Teaching
Among the most rewarding aspects of being involved in scientific research are the opportunities to impart excitement and passion for the biological world through education. My own interests in understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape life on Earth stem from a lifelong fascination with natural history and biodiversity and I particularly enjoy introducing students to the rich complexities and striking commonalities that can be found throughout the natural world.
Below you will find brief descriptions of my various educational roles.
Mentoring
I am always eager to collaborate with students to develop opportunities for independent research. Possible projects include extensions of my ongoing research programs, but I also enjoy working with students to design projects based on their own personal interests within ecology. Previous topics have been diverse, including biodiversity in urban environments, climate change and avian breeding phenology, the biogeography of invasive species, and temperature dependence of biotic interactions. Approaches range from macroecological analyses of available ‘big data’ datasets to field surveys to greenhouse experiments. Get in touch to discuss possibilities.
(photo courtesy of Nick LaFave)
Courses
I have participated in teaching for introductory courses including ecology, evolution, physiology, and genetics, and upper division classes on macroecology, principles of ecology, and the biology of toxins. In my current position, I teach a graduate seminar for both biology and non-biology students on documentaries in ecology, contribute lectures for courses in evolution and methods in biology, and serve as co-instructor for two intensive courses: one for advanced undergraduates leading a statistics practical using R in the topic of plant physiology, and a masters course on global change ecology that guides students through the entire research process using lectures, workshops, field trips, and culminates in presenting independent research results from field or greenhouse experiments. While I most enjoy introducing students to the biological world through fundamental concepts supported by experiences in the field, I have become increasingly interested and involved in teaching the quantitative, statistical, and computational skills that are of growing importance for success in STEM fields.