I. TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Understanding how information is created and evaluated in Biology is as important as knowing the information itself because information turns over so rapidly. Learning to ask and answer questions, focusing on what we know and don’t know, and how we can learn about it, is essential in teaching and applying knowledge in Biology. I strive as a teacher to create an environment in which engagement with factual material, critical thinking, and clear communication skills are expected and rewarded.

In my teaching and mentoring I have two overarching goals. First, I want students to leave my courses with an understanding of how research creates knowledge in Organismal Biology. I think it is particularly important for students to have an understanding of how we know things in an era when biological information is critical to discussions of a range of important and contentious social issues. Second, I want my students to have the skills to gather, synthesize and explain new information to both their peers and to those without scientific backgrounds. Students who don’t go on in Biology need basic skills to understand developing knowledge created in Biology, and those who go on in Biology have a responsibility to explain their knowledge to others.

II. MENTORING STUDENTS

An essential component of the teaching performed by all faculty members is mentoring undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers. My mentoring approach is based on the mentoring I received as an undergraduate, research fellow, naturalist, and graduate student, and my experience in mentoring six undergraduate honors thesis projects while a graduate student at Brown.

Most importantly, I expect students to develop their own interests and intellectual independence. I work with students to pursue topics that interest them in ecology and evolutionary biology, rather then restrict them to work on my own research. I will keep multiple research projects in my lab, spanning a range from emerging model organisms to conservation projects with species of concern, so that students can find projects that fit their interests, and so that resources and approaches developed for one system can be applied to another. When students have research interests close to my own, I will insist that they develop the work’s conceptual novelty, methods, importance, and implementation. I will strive to encourage creativity by both challenging students to think broadly and supporting students by providing the attention and help they require.

As a mentor, I will strive to create a cohesive and collegial intellectual community in the lab, where students take an interest in each others work, collaborate on research projects, help each other with data collection, analysis, and writing, brainstorm about research plans, and provide feedback and criticism. I will work with students to think broadly about their interests, referring them to both current literature and classic literature from Darwin on. I strive to give quick and thoughtful feedback on experimental design, proposals, and manuscripts, as well as actively reading emerging literature with my students.


III. COURSES

My teaching practice is reflective and adaptable. My courses will begin with gaining an understanding of where students are coming from and what they expect to get from my courses. By using concept maps, short writing and discussion I will begin a dialogue with my students to shade both my expectations for courses and theirs. Throughout my courses I will use a variety of media for presentation and a variety of evaluation methods to meet the needs and talents of students. I will use regular assessment, polling and questioning to see if it is working, and adjust my approach from the results. Grades are used to measure my performance as well as that of students.

There will be a heavy emphasis on research in all of my courses, because it is how we learn things in Biology. I was introduced to the primary literature early in my undergraduate career, and I will use it, in addition to classic papers and secondary materials like textbooks. Writing assignments in my courses will emphasize how primary literature is created by expecting students to write in the tradition of research articles, literature reviews, and grant proposals. In addition to presenting their own research in writing, my courses will give students the opportunity to present their results to their peers at the end of a course. During courses I will also use problem sets and short writing to test and challenge mastery and employment of material.

Specific courses:
I am able to teach graduate and upper level courses in quantitative genetics and the evolution of complex traits, plant development and evolution, conservation genetics, invasion biology, geobotany, and landscape genetics. I have experience as a teaching assistant for courses in evolution, ecology, botany, entomology, and introductory biology. I can teach a variety of other courses depending on department needs.

For a more complete insight into my teaching, a teaching portfolio is available upon request.