Doug Peltz
Doug Peltz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign |
| Known for | Mystery Science Mediterranean red bug |
| Spouse | Carrie Peltz[1] |
Doug Peltz, popularly known as Mystery Doug, is an American science communicator and entrepreneur based in San Francisco. He is best known as the host of the weekly science show Mystery Doug (2017 - today), now being watched by one out of every five children in the U.S.,[2] and the co-founder and voice behind the popular science curriculum Mystery Science.[3] He was the first to discover that the Mediterranean red bug was now present in North America.[4] He has been featured by Forbes,[5] Wall Street Journal,[6] NBC News,[7] OC Register,[8] TechCrunch,[9] Business Insider,[10] and other news outlets for his unique way of explaining science. As one of the most prominent science explainers around the time of the Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, his video explaining the phenomenon was viewed 30 million times, more than the videos by NASA, National Geographic, and Discovery.[11][12]
Early life
Doug Peltz grew up in Sycamore, Illinois. He spent his childhood raising frogs, collecting mushrooms, and staring at the Moon through his telescope. He spent his college years studying history of science and astronomy at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.[13]
Career
In 2005, at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Peltz ran tours at the campus observatory, giving people a look at the rings of Saturn for the first time.[13]
In 2006, after graduating, he joined LePort Schools, a chain of private schools in California. He joined as their first science teacher and left as their Director of Science. He created an original science curriculum for grades 4-8th and helped develop the science department.[13]
In 2013, Peltz co-founded Mystery Science with Keith Schacht. Mystery Science creates open-and-go lessons for elementary teachers and helps them teach science without requiring a background in science.[5] A couple notable interviews with Y Combinator, one their investors, detailed an unconventional business model in which the company sold to schools and districts across the United States without a sales team.[14][15] Mystery Science has grown to be the most widely used science resource in American elementary schools; it is used by more than 50% of elementary schools reaching more than four million children each month.[2] In October 2020, Mystery Science became a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Education.[16]
References
- ^ "Herald-Whig". 15 July 2005.
- ^ a b "Mystery.org".
- ^ "Team — Mystery".
- ^ Bryant, Peter J. (October 2009). "Invasion of Southern California by the Palearctic pyrrhocorid Scantius aegyptius (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae)" (PDF). The Pan-Pacific Entomologist. 85 (4): 190–193. doi:10.3956/2009-27.1.
- ^ a b "Mystery Science Helps Teachers Dazzle Their Students With Interactive Science Classes". Forbes. 17 August 2017.
- ^ Gamerman, Ellen (2020). "What to Let the Kids Watch When You're All Stuck at Home".
- ^ "Fireball Spotted Over Irvine…Potential Treasure Hunt?". 2010.
- ^ "O.C. teacher reports fireball sighting". 2010.
- ^ Frederic Lardinois (3 August 2017). "O.C. teacher reports fireball sighting".
- ^ Chris Weller (3 August 2017). "Google is giving away 15,000 pairs of solar eclipse glasses to schools across the US".
- ^ "Facebook - Mystery Science".
- ^ "Vimeo".
- ^ a b c "LinkedIn".
- ^ "Cost vs Quality in Edtech – Keith Schacht, Avichal Garg, and Geoff Ralston". 6 April 2018.
- ^ "Keith Schacht and Doug Peltz on What Traction Feels Like – at YC Edtech Night". 27 November 2017.
- ^ Tony Wan (3 November 2020). "Discovery Education Acquires Mystery Science in $140 Million Deal".