Emily van Zee is an associate professor of science education at Oregon State University and co-organizer of Teacher Researcher Day at National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) national conferences. She has been a middle school science teacher, scout leader, physics instructor, and science teacher educator. While a faculty member at the University of Maryland, College Park, she initiated and facilitated the Science Inquiry Group with graduates of her courses and their colleagues. As a university professor, Emily found that collaborating with K-12 teachers prompted major shifts in her roles as a teacher and as a researcher. Both she and the teachers faced challenges in negotiating new perspectives on their relative status, modes of discourse during meetings, time required for collaboration, and ways to communicate the knowledge generated. In this chapter, she reflects upon these challenges and the personal history that underlies her commitment and approaches to fostering teacher research.