Teaching

Teaching is one of the best parts of being a professor.

Students learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process, but that engagement looks different in different kinds of classes and for different students. I embed current events, real data, and cutting-edge methods in my coursework to help students see the importance of what they are learning. Most of my classes focus on learning-by-doing: having students make observations, derive solutions, draw cross sections, and analyze data. I even developed a course where students, rather than learning through coursework, act as teaching assistants for classes they have already taken - and thus have to not only master the material at a higher level, but help create learning opportunities for their peers. 

Field work is of course one of the best teaching tools of all: out of the classroom, students must learn to make independent observations and interpretations, bringing together information learned in all of their classes. Many students are also motivated by the desire to spend time outdoors - so field trips are fueled by student energy and enthusiasm! At ASE I have developed and taught three new field trips within my Structural Geology trip: to coastal Malaysia, across the mountains of Taiwan, to Singapore's Southern Islands. In order to provide a safe environment on field trips, I am certified in Wilderness First Aid, and I plan my field trips carefully with learning goals and student-friendly logistics in mind, recognizing the needs of students who have different abilities, or who might face prejudice in the field.

I firmly believe that all students should feel welcome in my classes and have equal opportunity to learn. My classroom is a rigorous but welcoming environment, and I seek to understand the challenges and opportunities faced by each student. Underlying all of my classes is an interest in students as people with individual goals. I reach out to students, and link them to resources and people to help them achieve their goals. I practice empathy, and share personal experiences to humanize the science we are studying.

In addition to coursework, I work with both undergraduate and graduate students on research projects. Students have worked on 3D fault modeling, core logging (in Kathmandu, Nepal), seismic reflection acquisition (in southern Nepal), mapping faults in Nankai, Japan, dynamic rupture modeling, structural analyses of fold-and-thrust belts, and tsunami modeling. As a result of this co-research, two of my undergraduates have published first-author papers, and others have been co-authors on work.

I was honored to receive the 2019 Nanyang Teaching Award (School, ASE). In 2010 I also received the Shaler Teaching Award from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University for my work as a teaching assistant.

I spent ten years working and teaching in the Asian School of the Environment at Nanyang Technological University. 

ASE hosts a wonderfully diverse environmental science program with a high faculty-to-student ratio. Students begin their coursework together, and then specialize into either geosciences, ecology, or society. All three tracks are based on strong foundational courses that emphasize communication, problem solving, data analysis, lab skills, and fieldwork. Graduates from our program are prepared to make a difference in our changing world, and enter a variety of tracks, including research, NGOs, government bodies, sustainable finance, disaster response, consulting, and more.

At ASE, I taught both broad skills-based courses for the whole cohort (GIS and the Earth System, Teaching in E2S2) and a more advanced course for the Geoscience majors (Structural Geology and Tectonics). I have also taught a much larger class for our minors program  (Natural Hazards and Society), helped design and teach a university-wide online class about palm oil (Sustainability: Seeing through the haze), and periodically taught an intensive short course on interpreting seismic reflection data both in Singapore and for academic groups abroad (Bangladesh, France).

I also worked  with undergraduate and graduate students on individual research projects, both term-length and full-year length, and mentored students to guide them in academic and career decisions both while they are at ASE and beyond.

Courses taught at NTU (for credit):
Teaching reviews available on each course page.

Non-credit teaching:

Before coming to NTU, I was actively involved with teaching as both a graduate student at Harvard University and even an undergraduate at Caltech. In addition to working as a teaching assistant in multiple classes, I also was the head teaching assistant for a Natural Disasters class, training and supervising several other teaching assistants, and developing course materials. In 2010 I received the Shaler Teaching Award from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University.

At Harvard University

At Caltech