Teaching & Mentoring
Teaching Philosophy
I strive to become an instructor at a Primary Undergraduate Institution. As teachers, it is our responsibility not only to teach students course material, but also to provide an environment that emphasizes equity and justice to both break down barriers to science and help students grow as individuals. As a teaching assistant at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), I have learned that students, who all enter the classroom with multiple intersecting racial, gender, and other identities, thrive in environments where they are respected and trusted. So, in addition to using field experiences to help students engage with material, I emphasize open discourse and compassion in the classroom to expand students’ confidence and reduce barriers to science.
Restoration Ecology students sample plant diversity at an on-campus restoration and research site
Annika trains undergraduate assistants on insect pinning
Teaching Experience
Teaching Training and Internships
California Community College Internship Program through UC Irvine, 2022-2023
University Teaching Certificate through UC Riverside’s Graduate Division, 2021-2022
Primary Instructor Positions
Bio 80—Organisms to Ecosystems, Fall 2023, Irvine Valley College
Biol 116—Ecology and Conservation Biology, Summer 2023, UC Riverside
Biol 005C—Introductory Evolution and Ecology, Spring 2023, UC Riverside
Biol 116—Ecology and Conservation Biology, Summer 2022, UC Riverside
Teaching Assistant Positions
(all at UC Riverside)
Teaching Assistant, Biol 265—Restoration Ecology, Winter 2022
Teaching Assistant, Biol116—Ecology and Conservation Biology, Fall 2021, Fall 2022
Teaching Assistant, Biol005B—Introduction to Organismal Biology, Spring 2020
Teaching Assistant, Biol005C—Introduction to Ecology and Evolution, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2023
Guest Lectures
Invited guest lecture: Density, Dispersion, and Demographics; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Course, UC Riverside, Virtual, April 2022
Invited guest lecture: Density, Dispersion, and Demographics; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Course, UC Riverside, Virtual, April 2022
Invited guest lecture: Conservation Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Course, UC Riverside, Virtual, June 2021
Invited guest lecture: Density, Dispersion, and Demographics; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Course, UC Riverside, Virtual, April 2021
Mentoring
I mentored/ am currently mentoring undergraduate student Mahnur Bharucha, who will be completing a capstone project on the effects of drought on Phacelia campanularia pollen viability and mass. Mahnur was awarded the Chancellor's Fellowship for Research for undergraduate students at UCR in 2022- congrats, Mahnur!
I mentored/ am currently mentoring undergraduate student Kim-Emerson Sevilla, who will be completing a project on the effects of drought on Phacelia campanularia nectar sodium content. Kim won the UCR Undergraduate Research Mini-Grant to support this work! Congratulations, Kim. Kim has also pinned many insects for the Niwot Ridge advanced snowmelt experiment.
I have trained, mentored, and wrote letters of recommendation for 13 other undergraduate students who have assisted in projects in the Rafferty lab both remotely and in person.
Caryn Iwanaga, an assistant and then intern of the Rafferty lab, admires a bristlecone pine snag during a field excursion to the White Mountains