Valarie L. Akerson is a Professor of Science Education at Indiana University, and a former elementary teacher. Her research focuses on preservice and inservice elementary teachers’ ideas about Nature of Scientific Knowledge, as well as their teaching practices. She has recently (2025) co-published a textbook for teaching science methods to preservice teachers. She has published approximately 120 journal articles, 18 books, and 40 book chapters. She is a Past-President of the Association for Science Teacher Education and a Past-President for NARST: A Global Organization for Improving Science Education Through Research. She is a 2021 recipient of the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award from NARST: A Global Organization for Improving Science Education Through Research. She is a 2026 recipient of AWARD III: Outstanding Lifetime Service to Science Education from ASTE: Association for Science Teacher Education.