Tammy Badger grew up in Western PA on a family homestead. Growing up she loved to play outside in the woods but was also involved in tennis and ballet. Ballet moved her to cities like Cleveland and New York City where she trained. After high school graduation she spent the summers as outdoor adventure staff at Jumonville Camp while pursuing a degree in biochemistry from Duquesne University. Shortly after graduation, she moved to Atlanta Georgia where she held jobs in the education division of Zoo Atlanta and as a sales specialist at REI. After moving back to western PA, she earned a Master of Secondary Science Education degree from Slippery Rock University. She holds a Pennsylvania teacher certification in biology, chemistry and environmental education. After graduation, she worked as a teacher for Sharon City Schools teaching biology and chemistry while holding a part-time role at Slippery Rock University in an outdoor leadership position. After moving to State College, she chose full-time work at Park Forest Montessori School so she can learn about the Montessori Method and allow her son to attend pre-school in a supportive learning and loving environment. As her son moved into elementary school, she served as a teaching assistant in the Chemistry Department at Penn State University helping students in a variety of courses and helping to train and evaluate other teaching assistants in the classroom. After having her second son, her teaching career led her to a 10 year position at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy where she taught honors, AP and Dual Enrollment chemistry. She also taught biology, research and design and anatomy and physiology. Currently Tammy is a full-time academic adviser for biology at Penn State University.

Random Fact: I am a huge Tolkien and CS Lewis fan!