Jessica Fries-Gaither is an Elementary Resource Specialist with The Ohio State University. Currently she is working on a free multimedia cyberzine called Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears . This online magazine will integrate polar science, literacy skills, and other cross-curricular content for elementary educators. Fries-Gaither earned bachelor's degrees in Biological Sciences and Anthropology and a master's of Education from the University of Notre Dame. She has had a variety of teaching experiences including middle school science and math, upper elementary science and math, and elementary (self-contained) classrooms. Most recently, she taught fourth grade in Anchorage, Alaska, where she lived for six years. Fries-Gaither is a member of the National Science Teacher's Association (NSTA) and has traveled to Japan with the Fulbright Memorial Fund and to South Africa and Botswana with the Fulbright Hays program. She enjoys learning and teaching about the world's diversity in its scientific and cultural forms.