Amanda L. (Glaze) Townley, Ph.D.
About Dr. Townley
​
Amanda L. Townley specializes in science teacher education, evolution education research and science literacy-focused public outreach, alternating her time between the classroom and the field as an Associate Professor of Middle Grades & Secondary Science Education at Georgia Southern University where she was honored with the University Award for Excellence in Research in 2021. She is a deeply engaged advocate of science for all and hands-on, minds-on science, working directly with schools, teachers, and other public-facing entities to support the accurate and comprehensive teaching of science at all levels of study. Her research centers on the intersections of science and society, specifically the acceptance and rejection of evolution in the Southeastern United States and the impact of the perceived conflicts between evolution and religion and/or culture on science literacy. Having been reared in a Southern Baptist ministry family, she brings to her research and outreach first-hand experience with the challenges faced where there is a divergence between scientific understanding and personal beliefs. A recipient of the 2018 NABT Evolution Education Award and 2020 Biology Education Research Award, her work has also been featured on NPR's video/radio series Science Friday as well as on social media outlets such as the National Center for Science Education Blog, ErrantScience.com, and RealScientists.org. She served as an expert panelist for Science Friday's education focus #TeachTheE and works with organizations including the Smithsonian Human Origins Program, and the National Geographic funded Umsuka project at the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa. Her research has been referenced in mainstream media outlets such as Scientific American, Forbes, and Newsweek and can be found scholarly journals such as Science Education, The American Biology Teacher, Education Sciences, the International Journal of Mathematics & Science Education, and others. She resides outside of Savannah, Georgia with her partner Don, their children Kassidy, Jaymon, Brantlee, Maddox, and Delanie, as well as a menagerie of flora and fauna befitting a biologist!
​