Cullen: I’m talking today with Robbin Dilley, our Natural History and Ecology Teacher at Maine Coast Semester. Robbin, can we start out with a 30-second life story? How did you become a science teacher? Robbin: Sure! I studied biology at Columbia and originally wanted to go into environmental law. But the more I spoke with lawyers, the more I realized how long it takes to see meaningful change in environmental policy—decades, sometimes. After college, I worked for Outward Bound, then did seasonal field research—studying whales in Gloucester, MA and working in Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. I saw that even in science, there was a huge delay between data collection and policy change. But working with high schoolers through Outward Bound was immediate and energizing. I loved it. So I joined the Boston Teacher Residency, a program similar to the Maine Coast Semester Teaching Fellowship program here, and discovered how much I love teaching science—especially when students get to ask their own questions and do their own investigations. Cullen: Had you done field-lab-style teaching before coming to Chewonki? Robbin: Yes, it’s actually pretty similar to the field research I did post-college. In traditional biology programs, especially at the AP or