Stoltzfus is one of six ASU students who co-created “Sustainability Science Education for Teachers.” It’s a new course that aims to ground teachers-in-training in sustainability issues and to give them the tools they need to integrate these issues into their classroom instruction, explains Stoltzfus, who graduated from ��ݮ���� in 2005 with a major in .

The Sustainability Science Education project started under the auspices of ASU faculty member Leland H. Hartwell, a 2001 Nobel Laureate in physiology or medicine. Hartwell came to the conclusion that the best way to spread understanding of sustainability issues through society was through better-prepared teachers.

“Dr. Hartwell met with each of us developing content for the course on a regular basis, defined the objectives of the course, and worked with us to ensure a high-quality, engaging output,” said Stoltzfus. “He is still involved with the course, researching ways to improve student learning [and] make the material more engaging. He hopes to develop a library of resources to provide teachers with when they’re out on their own.”

The project uses online, documentary-style presentations, combined with classroom discussion sections. “We explore complex local and global problems and sustainable solutions through a refined mix of artfully crafted video segments and relevant scientific data with an emphasis on the kindergarten to eighth-grade classroom,” says Stoltzfus. “Our mission is to empower future teachers to educate the next generation to succeed in a rapidly changing world.”

Stoltzfus is also working with a program funded by the , called GK-12, which has the similar goal of integrating sustainability concepts in high school classrooms. One of the objectives of the GK-12 program is to help teachers meet state and national standards.

“Our course attempts to give them the skills to weave sustainability concepts into existing lesson plans, rather than have to teach it ‘on the side.’”

In the spring of 2012, Stoltzfus spent 15 hours a week in two high schools, teaching, helping teachers to prepare grants and sustainability projects, and working with student clubs.

Stoltzfus says his work in the schools has been “very rewarding,” as has his experience of working under Hartwell. Stoltzfus expects to earn his doctorate in sustainability in May of 2015.

Stoltzfus is the son of , a long-time EMU professor of .

All five of EMU’s pre-med students were accepted into medical school for fall 2007. The 100 percent acceptance rate, an EMU release says, is “rare for any school” especially because the national acceptance rate last year was 46 percent.

Typically, EMU sends four to nine students each year to med school. The students are part of the biology department’s pre-professional health sciences (PPHS) program.

, adviser for EMU’s pre-professional health sciences program.

For the last 20 years, EMU’s acceptance rate has averaged 85 percent, while the national average during that same time hovered around 40 percent, said , EMU pre-professional health sciences adviser.