Teaching

As an educator and mentor, my goal is to help students develop the mental creativity and analytical skills necessary to become productive researchers, managers, and citizens. My motivation to educate stems from a deep-seated interest in the natural world and my respect and admiration for the professors and teachers that through their knowledge and enthusiasm inspired me to continue their pursuits. I think our responsibility as educators is to arm students with a suite of skills with life-long utility regardless of career path. We must take this responsibility seriously and continually strive to improve as educators by exploring new and innovative approaches that accommodate the diverse learning styles of our students. Personally, I enjoy overcoming the challenges of teaching simply for the satisfaction of seeing a student’s face light up with a sense of accomplishment, and I have come to realize that an infectious enthusiasm and curiosity for the natural world can overcome even the greatest of challenges we face in the classroom.

Course I have or will teach at the University of Nebraska include:

Wildlife Life Histories (NRES 898)

Science Writing (NRES 891)

Occupancy Modeling (NRES 898)

Adaptive Natural Resource Management (NRES 898)

Biodiversity (NRES 898)

Ecology of Riparian Systems (NRES 898)