Ron Vanderveer is a professor of biology at Eastern Florida State College on the Melbourne Campus. He has been a full-time biology professor there for 13 years and prior to the college spent 8 years teaching biology and oceanography at the high school level. He holds a BS in Marine Biology, an MS in Computer Education, and an MS in General Biology. At Eastern Florida State College, Ron teaches three biology courses along with Plant Physiology: Fundamentals of Biology for non-majors, General Biology 1 which and General Biology 2. The Fundamentals course has always been a challenge, trying to motivate students to learn biology when they saw no benefit in it for them except checking the box on the AA requirements form! The ebook project was designed for that course and student population, and to address two main issues: Reduce the expense and size (physically and in terms of content) of the current non-majors books, and make the textbook a bit more applicable to the students and their daily lives.

Amanda Rose Newton is a biology and horticulture educator with experience teaching both majors and non-majors science courses at the high school and college levels.  Amanda Rose holds degrees in biochemistry, agronomy, and entomology, and a PhD in STEM Education.

In addition to her teaching experience, Amanda has worked extensively in horticulture and agricultural outreach through curriculum development, garden center education, extension-style programming, and international agricultural training initiatives. She has contributed to and collaborated on research and educational programming related to sustainable agriculture and environmental science in over 30 countries. The hope of the ebook project is that it will support non-majors biology students in making introductory biology more approachable, affordable, and relevant to everyday life. Or, at the very least, help students discover one aspect of biology they genuinely enjoy!