Chemistry Education: Lighting a Fire

After graduating with first class honours in Chemistry at the University of Melbourne, Jenny taught in a range of schools for over 30 years before leaving teaching to spend more time writing. Jenny has written many textbooks, teacher guides, and other resources. In 2005 the Science Edge series, for which she was series editor and principal author, won the Australian Award for Excellence in Educational Publishing. Her books include many case studies drawn from her extensive first-hand research across much of Australia. Jenny also has been very active in gifted education, student leadership, social justice, and community involvement, including convening conferences for young people from across Australia on issues such as poverty, racism, refugees, and sustainability. A documentary of the ‘Poverty – some more than others!’ conference was shown a number of times on ABC national television. In addition, Jenny has run many teacher workshops and has organized many events for the RACI. She also writes an education column for Chemistry in Australia. Jenny currently works on a curriculum project on climate change and renewable energy, known as the STELR Project.