C. Renée James

Dr. James has been distracted by shiny objects in the Universe for as long as she can remember. Trained as a stellar spectroscopist at the astronomy department of the University of Texas at Austin, she later abandoned determining the chemical abundances of metal-poor stars in favor of exploring astronomy and the history of science with the enthusiasm of a kid playing in the mud after a good rain. She has written extensively for both Astronomy and Sky and Telescope magazines, and was awarded the Popular Science Writing Award by a division of the American Astronomical Society. Meanwhile, she's been teaching introductory astronomy for non-science majors at Sam Houston State University since 1999, and is a favorite among students, earning recognition as the Texas State University System's Regents' Teacher, as well as receiving the SHSU Excellence in Teaching Award. Her unique methods also earned her a Gold Star award from NASA's IGES for inspiring uses of Hubble in education. What people enjoy most about her writing and teaching is her down-to-earth, humorous way of conveying some of the most esoteric and non-intuitive facets of science. In the words of one awe-stricken reader, "Approaching this kind of stuff without scaring people with techno-speak is close to magic."