Mary Colson began teaching middle-level earth science in the Moorhead Public Schools in 1994 after prior science teaching experiences in Tennessee and Texas and a period as an ACT Science Test item writer. From 1994 to 1996 she also worked as a high school field course instructor for Rothsay Public Schools in rural Minnesota. From 2006 to 2008 she helped prepare future elementary teachers as an Adjunct Instructor of Earth Science at Minnesota State University Moorhead. At Moorhead Public Schools, Ms. Colson has served as team leader and junior high science chair. Recently, Ms. Colson has developed and given numerous presentations on earth science curriculum and on teaching literacy in the science classroom at state and national conferences for teachers of science. In 2008, Ms. Colson received the Medtronic Foundation's Science Teaching Award for Middle Level Science in Minnesota in recognition of her teaching efforts.
Ms. Colson is currently serving a two-year term as President of the Minnesota Science Teachers Association (MnSTA). Prior to her presidency, she served on the Board of Directors of MnSTA as a regional director and Minnesota's Science Standards Review Committee as a representative of the geosciences and of middle school science.
Ms. Colson has a BS of Geology from Allegheny College, Pennsylvania and an MS of Geology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She completed her teacher certification as a Lyndhurst Fellow at UT Knoxville.