Joe Minato grew up in beautiful Rockwood, Oregon, youngest of six children. He had a childhood of explorations in nature and investigations in science, a gift he wishes for every child. He was born to be a science teacher. He even started a school in his parents’ basement at age 16. While classically trained in astronomy, physics, and math (S.B., MIT, 1984), Joe is a lifelong natural historian with a broad background and endless enthusiasm for exploring the wonders of the natural world from subatomic physics to cosmology, from the geologic history of the Earth to biological evolution, and wherever else his curiosity takes him. Joe has taught in a wide variety of settings, urban and rural, public and private, and to a wide variety of students, gifted scholars to troubled youth, small children to veteran educators. He lives in Multnomah Village, Portland, with his wife Amy. He has an adult son, Mateo, and an adult daughter, Ruby.