Arches National Park • July 2013

Background:

A.J. Bates is a transplant from the Hoosier State. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and a Master of Arts in Chemistry from Indiana University-Bloomington. A.J. has been at Skyline College for fourteen years, where he teaches Chemistry courses for the science majors sequence. He has taught Chemistry at the high school and college levels for twenty years.  

At Skyline College, A.J. is an advisor to the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). This club organizes events on campus to raise awareness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender issues. The club holds weekly meetings on the Skyline campus, is politcally active, and sponsors social events for the LGBTQQIA community and its straight allies.

In addition to his love of Chemistry, A.J. enjoys bicycling, photography, snow-skiing, and water-skiing. He has cycled from San Francisco to LA in the California AIDS Ride & Lifecycle events sixteen times to raise money for HIV and AIDS services and education, and he will again in June 2017.  A.J.'s other obsessions include fun, mostly cycling or science-related T-shirts, television series - Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, House of Cards, Bones, Modern Family, The Middle, Fargo, and many others - and a nearly lifelong fascination with all things STAR WARS.