Hello. My name is Stacy Trasancos, and I have been writing about science and theology since 2010, all intertwined with my real life. That year I was pregnant with my last and seventh-born child. Four years prior (2006), I had been received into the Catholic Church. THAT took two years (2004-2006) because pre-Catholic Stacy Trasancos was all over the place. I’m not sure what you call it, but I was definitely not religious, as in ‘did not care’ about the whole God-question or religion. I did not call myself an atheist because I had no need of a label. What I called myself was a Senior Research Chemist for DuPont’s, Lycra® division. I have a Ph.D. in chemistry from Penn State University. Atoms are my first love! I am well-versed on nanocomposite materials and elastomeric polymers. In my 30s, something happened. I just 360°-d it, left my career to raise children, and embraced the life of a homemaker (i.e., home-chemist).
From 2010 to 2014, I studied dogmatic theology while raising my five youngest (post-Catholic) kids and seeing my oldest two (pre-Catholics) kids off into adulthood. I earned a M.A. in dogmatic theology from Holy Apostles College & Seminary in 2014 (summa cum laude, thank you very much). During that time, I started writing and shortly thereafter published books, Science Was Born of Christianity: The Teaching of Fr. Stanley L. Jaki (2014) and Particles of Faith: A Catholic Guide to Navigating Science (Ave Maria Press, 2016, 2019). I’ve done some work in bioethics, 20 Answers: Bioethics (Catholic Answers, 2018) and on Eucharistic miracles, Behold, It is I: Scripture, Tradition, and Science on the Real Presence (TAN, 2021). I speak on all these topics, but mostly on my conversion story from chemistry to Catholicism. Spoiler: it was photosynthesis.
In 2022, I decided to learn philosophy. I consider myself a humble Thomist. In 2024, I completed a second M.A. in systematic philosophy, also at Holy Apostles College & Seminary (summa cum laude, thanks again). In the Fall of 2024, I began a Ph.D. program at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University in Maynooth, Ireland where I will continue work on the philosophy of matter with Dr. Gaven Kerr. Brag!
I teach for three Catholic universities online and work completely from home except for travel to speak. I’ve been all over the U.S. and Europe and to Australia a few times. My kids are almost grown. That last-born is a teenager. After raising seven intensely independent kids, nothing shocks me. I am confident in my faith, wiser, and ready to really get my head around how science, philosophy, and theology all fit together to tell us more about divine action and creation.
I think there is much work to be done in showing how Aristotelian-Thomistic natural philosophy does a better job of making sense of modern physics, chemistry, and biology than any other philosophical system. My purpose here is to work out the methods and synthesis. I invite you to be a part of this process by reading, sharing, and letting me know what you think in the comments.
