Bio
Bill’s class is like the lair of a mad scientist,” notes a student at Gotham Collaborative HS in the Bronx. William Lynam, a former Urban Park Ranger and Peace Corps Volunteer with a BA in Wildlife Management and a MS in Forestry, has taught science for over 20 years. He says, “If you do not experiment, if you do not have a connection to what you are learning, your view of science is skewed to thinking it belongs only in a textbook.” The crown jewel of his course is the 3-acre garden and orchard he created from an abandoned lot. It has over 250 fruit trees, an organic vegetable garden, and chickens, rabbits, bees, and mushrooms. With his rigor and seemingly endless patience, his students learn first-hand about biodiversity, botany, sustainability and the principles of biology and chemistry. They also learn the skills needed to succeed in life.
