Meg Town, a teacher at Redmond Junior High School in Redmond, Washington, has been named the 2012 recipient of the Edward C. Roy Jr. Award for Excellence in K-8 Earth Science Teaching. Town, who earned her master's degree in education from the University of Washington, has spent her career challenging middle and junior high school students with inquiry-based, hands-on learning in the Earth sciences. Earth science is, she says, "the most touchable science."