415–that’s how many science museums and zoos my Uncle Tim has visited across the country. He takes three 5-week trips throughout the year to study science museums and to proofread them! He’ll take oodles of notes and spend days in a single museum. I think the longest he’s spent in one museum is 12 days. At night, he’ll go to the library to research questions he might have and to make sure the museum signage is accurate. He’s found several mistakes along the way.

One funny story… he spent an entire day taking notes in a museum. When he came back the next day, the security guards took him to the office and said, “No one spends a whole day in our museum, let alone comes back the next day! What are you up to?” 🙂

My uncle is definitely a born teacher!! Not only has he taught middle school through college level courses, but he uses his encyclopedic knowledge now to volunteer at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, to give nature talks, to teach boy scouts and cub scouts, and to host star parties (astronomy parties). He’s even had a telescope dedicated to him! If I’m ever on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, I would definitely want him as one of my phone-a-friend lifelines!

On his way back home, Uncle Tim stopped in to visit Stephen and me. He sat in on some of our classes, came to see my office, ate lunch with us in the cafeteria, cheered on the Whirlwind soccer and volleyball teams, and spent the night at our house. It was neat to show him around and give him a peek into our lives.