Eggs, rubber chickens, liquid nitrogen, boiling water, canning wax, plastic bottles and a very old spool of thread.

It's a quirky shopping list, but for Dr. Picklestein (aka Boise State chemistry professor Henry Charlier) it's perfect. These oddities shape the zany professor's K-12 science outreach program: a program that stirs students' and families' interest in science, and teaches Idaho audiences that the unremarkable can be made amazing with a little curiosity and creativity.

For more than 27 years, Charlier ended his class lectures on topics such as enzymology and protein chemistry, packed his trunk with a green lab coat and rainbow wig, his motley collection of supplies and homemade gadgets (including 'The Thing!'), and an unquenchable desire to spread scientific exploration and inquiry.

In 2025 alone, Dr. Picklestein reached over 10,000 K-12 students through 72 presentations across the state, ranging from public libraries to schools, to on-campus events such as Boise Engineering Day, and community events for clubs and groups, such as Girl Scouts of the USA.

"I'm not trying to convince people to become scientists," Charlier said. "I'm trying to convince them they already are."

Humans are born scientists

For Boise District's 33 elementary schools, Dr. Picklestein is a much-anticipated fixture at family STEM nights.

At one such event, Dr. Picklestein used a plastic water bottle, an audience member's breath, and a bicycle pump to create a cloud that escaped from the bottle into the room, demonstrating high- and low-pressure systems.

"That is an experiment we use when we teach meteorology to our eighth graders now," said Chris Taylor, the former scientific supervisor for the Boise School District who booked Dr. Picklestein at STEM nights and functions for 13 years.

He praised the professor's phenomena-based inquiry model - where learning is focused on observable, real-life events - and how it can shape K-12 curriculum.

Sonia Galaviz, an Idaho State Representative and Title 1 educator at Whittier Elementary School in Boise, said that her students were "on the ceiling with excitement" when Dr. Picklestein presented at STEM nights.

"His presence and his influence definitely impacted not only the attendance of the evening's family event, but also just their excitement about what science could be," Galaviz said.

As a triple Boise State alum, Galaviz (BA, elementary education, bilingual education emphasis, 2002; MA, curriculum and instruction, bilingual education emphasis, 2005; EdD, curriculum and instruction, STEM education emphasis, 2020) also takes her students on field trips to see Dr. Picklestein's shows on Boise State's campus, keeping their excitement and love of science always fresh and bubbling.

"He's not only a professor; he's a character that students have come to know and love. That is forever valuable for me as a STEM advocate and as their teacher," Galaviz said.

Curious, then creative

Charlier said the question that he receives most from students is also one of the best and most important questions that kids can ask.

"What happens if?"

"An important point I like to make is that to be a scientist, you don't have to be smart," Charlier said. "I'm evidence of that. I've just got a strong interest, and it drove me. The two things you need are to be curious, then creative."

Charlier's parents nurtured his creativity and curiosity as a child growing up in Wisconsin, and his elementary school art teacher - known lovingly as "Mrs. C" - fostered his passion for science and art.

"Mrs. Cerwinski was well ahead of her time and was doing STEM education before it existed. I would bring her whatever I could find that was interesting from a science point of view, and she would display it - no matter what it was - and the class would use it to sketch."

That included wings from birds his father hunted, and oddities such as a spectacular eight-foot-long section of tree bark, lugged from a favorite fishing hole by Charlier, his brothers and father.

"If she was disappointed, she did not let us know," Charlier chuckled. "She put it right there [on the special shelf]."

When working with K-12 kids, Dr. Picklestein likes to ask a particular question that children are always quick to answer.

"What do babies do when they find something new?"
"They put it in their mouth!" Kids agree, unanimously.
"What question do you think they're trying to solve?"
'Is it food?' 'Does it taste good?' The children propose.

And then Charlier drops the bombshell: babies are already scientists. By putting things into their mouth, they are making hypotheses and experimenting. All humans are born scientists. It's key to our survival as a species.

Share This

• Share on Facebook
• Share on X
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share through Email