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Barbara Jane Eason Goodman was born in Hanover, NH. Her family moved to North Carolina when she was little, so that’s where she grew up. She always loved pets and learning about all sorts of things. In fact, she wanted to be a doctor from the time she was in third grade all the way through college. She got her first chemistry set in 6th grade. She got a microscope and telescope in 7th grade but really liked the chemistry set better than the others!

Barb took a lot of science classes because she knew science would be needed for when she was a doctor and also because she just liked science. She took as much science and math as possible in high school.

When it came time for Barb to go to college, she went to Duke University in North Carolina. She chose it because she knew that it was a very good school and had good classes in science. She also knew that students who went there often were able to go on to become either human or animal doctors. The school was close to home, which was nice and also was affiliated with the Methodist Church, to which she belongs.

After finishing her degree in 1981, Dr. Goodman went to the University of California in Los Angeles to get more training in her research area. In 1983, she started working there as a researcher and teacher in the schools that train doctors and nurses. A couple years later she started trying to find a job at another school where she could have her own lab. She was willing to live anywhere in the country.

Dr. Goodman ended up getting a job at the University of South Dakota. She was able to teach physiology to students just out of high school and to students learning to be doctors. She also had her own lab and was studying lungs and how chemicals and water move in and out of the lungs. She also taught students how to become good teachers.

She wanted to learn more about working with other teachers who taught at different grades and their students. So, she started working with APS in its programs for grade school, middle school, and high school teachers and students. She did a lot of work for many years and got to be very well known by other physiologists.

Because of her work, Dr. Goodman was asked to be in charge of a program at her school for science education. She spends half of her time working with state colleges and colleges that are run by Native Americans to get them to work together to teach students about research. A third of her time she teaches students who want to be elementary school teachers all the way to students who want to do research or who want to be doctors. The rest of her time she finds better ways to teach and explain physiology to students at all levels.

Away From Work
Now that her children are all grown up and moved out of the house, Dr. Goodman and her husband (a math teacher) have time to travel and see new places. She has been to South America and the Galapagos Islands to see the wonderful birds and animals. She has also been to New Zealand to attend an international meeting for physiology educators and to Alaska on a cruise with lots of natural history and wildlife. 

She has lots of animals of her own and loves to take care of her horses, dogs, fish, and cats. She is very active in her church and helps out doing anything they need her to do. She also likes to read books.  She is currently reading lots of different mysteries.