About Mr. Buck
Greetings!
My name is Alan Buck, and I am originally from Klamath Falls, Oregon. Growing up in Oregon taught me to have a deep appreciation for nature, so much so that I decided that I wanted my career to be connected to nature in some way. In 1994, I began my undergraduate studies in the Natural Sciences at Oregon State University and quickly realized that I wanted to be a science teacher. I transferred to a school specializing in education and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in the Natural Sciences from Western Oregon University in 1998.
Finding a teaching position proved to be difficult in Oregon at the time, so I expanded my search elsewhere and found myself in Gastonia, North Carolina, where I began teaching Biology at North Gaston High School in 2001. I continued at NGHS until 2004, when I decided to pursue a Master's degree in Biology.
Upon being accepted into Dr. James Oliver's laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2004, I began studying a human pathogen called Helicobacter pylori, an organism capable of colonizing the human stomach (a very hostile place!) where it causes peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. The research experience I received at UNC Charlotte was invaluable and forever changed me. For years, I had felt a bit hypocritical instructing students in the wonders of science without having had any first hand research experience myself. My four years with Dr. Oliver definitely changed me for the better and help me improve my science instruction.
In 2007, I returned to teaching at Porter Ridge High School in Union County while I finished writing my thesis for my Master's degree, which was completed in 2008. I spent 5 wonderful years at PRHS and one year as a Biology Lecturer at UNC Charlotte before moving to Butler High School in the Fall of 2014. I am very excited to start my 4th year as a Bulldog teaching biology and AP Biology.
Greetings!
My name is Alan Buck, and I am originally from Klamath Falls, Oregon. Growing up in Oregon taught me to have a deep appreciation for nature, so much so that I decided that I wanted my career to be connected to nature in some way. In 1994, I began my undergraduate studies in the Natural Sciences at Oregon State University and quickly realized that I wanted to be a science teacher. I transferred to a school specializing in education and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in the Natural Sciences from Western Oregon University in 1998.
Finding a teaching position proved to be difficult in Oregon at the time, so I expanded my search elsewhere and found myself in Gastonia, North Carolina, where I began teaching Biology at North Gaston High School in 2001. I continued at NGHS until 2004, when I decided to pursue a Master's degree in Biology.
Upon being accepted into Dr. James Oliver's laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2004, I began studying a human pathogen called Helicobacter pylori, an organism capable of colonizing the human stomach (a very hostile place!) where it causes peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. The research experience I received at UNC Charlotte was invaluable and forever changed me. For years, I had felt a bit hypocritical instructing students in the wonders of science without having had any first hand research experience myself. My four years with Dr. Oliver definitely changed me for the better and help me improve my science instruction.
In 2007, I returned to teaching at Porter Ridge High School in Union County while I finished writing my thesis for my Master's degree, which was completed in 2008. I spent 5 wonderful years at PRHS and one year as a Biology Lecturer at UNC Charlotte before moving to Butler High School in the Fall of 2014. I am very excited to start my 4th year as a Bulldog teaching biology and AP Biology.