Role Models Today
Francis Collins
Dr. Francis Collins (MD, PhD) is a geneticist and author. He directed the Human Genome Project, arguably one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the life sciences, and is the current director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Collins was an agnostic who became a Christian while researching genetics at Yale in his twenties. Frustrated by the perceived choice between the science-championing "new atheists" and the Creationist / Intelligent Design camp, Dr. Collins founded the BioLogos Foundation. BioLogos is dedicated to discussion and education regarding the compatibility of Christianity with modern science. Anyone interested in science and religion should read his book "The Language of God," a memoir and overview of Christian theology's relationship with genetics and evolution.
Katharine Hayhoe
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe (PhD) is an atmospheric scientist and the director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She is an evangelical Christian; her parents were missionaries, and her husband is an evangelical pastor. She works to bring evangelical Christians on board with climate action. She has a YouTube channel I recommend, and she contributes to the PBS YouTube channel "Global Weirding," which discusses our changing climate.
Science Mike
Michael "Science Mike" McHargue is a science enthusiast and communicator to primarily Christian audiences. A former Southern Baptist deacon and then atheist, he is now a mystical Jesus-follower. Although he has no formal science education, he is well-read, cites his sources, and has a knack for explaining complicated scientific concepts. He hosts the Q&A-style podcast Ask Science Mike, co-hosts The Liturgists Podcast with Michael Gungor, and wrote the novel "Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found It Again Through Science."
Historical Role Models
LeMaitre
Mendel
Georges LeMaitre (1894 - 1966) was a Belgian physicist and Catholic priest. He was instrumental in developing human knowledge of the expanding universe and is called the "Father of the Big Bang," and he worked with Einstein. There's a crater on the moon named for him.
Gregor Mendel (1822 - 1884) was the "Father of Genetics" and was an Augustinian Catholic friar. Through his famous experiments with pea plants, he established the rules of heredity, now commonly called Mendelian genetics, which is a pillar of modern biology.