At Central Washington University

Earth's Evolution and Global Change, Winter 2020

"I love how Meaghan has us discuss questions during the lecture. It helps get the information from a fellow students perspective and see what her perspective is. In the last couple lectures of class we learned different theories then had to decide which one was the most accurate. She has been my favorite professor at Central so far and I love her teaching style. I am sad to see her go after this year."

"The best part about lectures was the questions posed to start conversation and create hypotheses before advancing in the lesson and giving the actual answer. It allowed me to stop and think about what i just learned and how I could apply that knowledge to something that I hadn't yet learned."

"her attitude was wonderful and spewed positive energy at all times. it made it very easy to get up in the morning, and she taught with the purpose in mind more than the means. her policies were flexible to adjust to reasonable situations. I VERY much appreciate her style and want her as a teacher in the future."

Paleobiology, Winter 2020

"The professor clearly taught each lesson and presented us with a fun way to study fossils. Each class I was looking forward to because we always had an interesting lesson. Also, the way the exams were designed helped people who had a higher stress level in class feel less stressed."

"Lectures were fun and Dr. Wetherell's personality was great. No matter the subject, they were enthusiastic and cracked jokes that made showing up to lectures all the more ecstatic. Having handson labs were great to do, especially in a class that meets for twice for two hours."

"The questions posed throughout the lecture allowed critical thinking and discussion between students. The physical in-class activities also allowed us to get a better understanding of inter species variance. Overall, I just loved messing with a bunch of bones."

Quantitative Reasoning for Geoscientists, Fall 2019

"Meaghan is a great instructor! Without her sense of humor or her diluting her powerpoint presentations with cute animals, I feel like statistics would be torture to learn. As is, it was still rough, but it was a lot more bearable for that. I also really appreciated her doing the rounds between all the students during our lab time to make sure we were all getting it.

"The focus on applying what we were learning to research. Learning to code in Rstudio. Using real research articles to work on learning targets"

"The labs were organized well, and the activities were fun and engaging. -Thank you Meaghan for all the lovely and adorable animal pics!!"

Introductory Biostatistics, Fall 2019

"Dr. Wetherell is an amazing professor. She actually made bio statistics interesting enough that I felt like I knew what I was doing. I never thought I would be doing this well in a statistics class, and she gave me the opportunity. She really has a way of connecting with her students and understood that we have things outside of class that might influence our ability to attend lecture. Not once did I feel as though I was being punished for having a life or personal issues. She really is an amazing professor, and all around person. "

"The class was informative and I can see it being useful moving forward. Dr. Wetherell was very helpful with answering questions and has a great wealth of knowledge related to the subject. "

"Dr. Wetherell did an excellent job of making the class material fun, relatable, and interesting. She went far beyond a cookie cutter class layout and made it feel truly adapted to the students in the class. "

Geology and Environment (Field Course), Spring 2018

"I have a bad back and am not the best at hiking but both the professor and the TA were incredibly inclusive and ensured that I was just as engaged in the activities as all of my peers. They were also willing to allow me to take breaks as needed and stop when I hit my limits. The atmosphere of the entire field trip was fun and exciting. It was great to tap the wells of knowledge that are the professor and TA."

"Meghan was cheery and knowledgeable at all times- anything she didn't know the TA's were able to assist with. Overall it was a very positive experience, even as an upper division student."

Evolving Earth, Spring 2018

" Some aspects that I felt were particularly effective were how the professor focused on group efforts to boost retention of learned course content. For example, the professor would frequently put discussion prompts amongst surrounding classmates to help learn about course content like plate tectonics, plus the instructor sometimes assigned an end-of-class activity meant to be completed in groups."

"I did not expect to enjoy this class but I felt that you taught it in a way that was engaging and interesting, You do a great job of maintaining a positive and energetic personality while teaching, especially for a 101 gen ed class."

"I really enjoyed that not only was a well prepared for test by her variety of teaching styles but she was very funny and had a quality connection to her students. I also enjoyed that I was well prepared to do well in the joining lab course. During lab I noted that students with other instructors struggled on many of the concpets but because of Meghan and how hands on she was with the different rocks and minerals I was able to be better prepared that 85% of my lab."

Mechanisms of Evolution, Winter 2018

"Dr. Wetherell is thus far the only teacher I've had in my time here at CWU that can measure up to Dr. Quitadamo in terms of in-class engagement, a sort of forced immersion into the subject being taught (for the record, I mean that as a huge compliment), if you will. What that showed me, above all else, was that she really gave a damn about teaching, which automatically makes any lecture that much easier to sit through. The constant peer to peer discussion really allowed for students to explore their own ideas before coming back and clarifying them as a group, and it was a really effective way to learn. In addition to being educational, these lectures were also very light-hearted in nature, with plenty of laughter and joking interspersed; really a great classroom environment."

"I loved that the content was presented in a way where it was engaging and I enjoyed the way she had us take a second and talk about concepts presented as she lectured. This really helped me better apply and understand the material. I also appreciated that the tests were formative it took the pressure of making a stupid mistake during testing (which i always do) off of me and helped foster a more active role in my learning. Also as painful as R-studio can be I think having that used for labs was helpful in seeing how the material could be applied and it is a useful skill to have. I have to say I went into this class not thinking it would be an interesting subject for me but was pleasantly surprised and I think the way it was delivered and explained helped a lot!!"

"I really appreciated Dr. Wetherell's commitment in making sure that her students are both engaged during lecture and care about if the material is being retained. Having chances to earn back points on exams was extremely helpful and allowed me to re-study and redeem myself. The structure of the exams was a new concept for me, but the group portion was both challenging but a great way to collaborate with peers. Dr. Wetherell really demonstrated her knowledge in RStudio and her help in lab was very beneficial. Dr. Wetherell was a great professor to have and I feel like I actually understand how to code in RStudio, If ever find myself using it in the future (hopefully not :P)"

Evolving Earth, Winter 2018

"Meaghan Wetherell is hands down one of my favorite professors I have had in my college career. She keeps a class of 80+ engaged and participating in my class. She provides a lot of useful time for group discussions as well as group activities. She also completely sets you up to succeed, whether or not you take advantage of that is up to the student. She is very knowledgable, kind, and funny."

"Wetherell showed a clear love for the subject and her enthusiasm created an environment that caused us to care a little bit more than just another class. Her knowledge and first hand experiences were crucial in application to the course material."

Earth's Surface Processes, Fall 2016

"It was probably the only class I've ever taken where not one lecture was ever boring to me. She made things interesting which made me want to learn."

"I thought she had great energy, and was very kind to the students. She was well organized and very flexible/accommodating and i appreciated that."

"Meaghan was an exceptional professor; always willing to provide assistance and made the course and work assigned a much more enjoyable task to accomplish. The class environment was comfortable and the ability to work in groups allowed a better sense of engagement in the activities. As well, being allowed to work with others come exam time was beneficial, in my opinion, so I wouldn't alter that facet within the coming quarters."

At University of Oregon

Data Analysis, Winter 2016

"Meaghan is excellent at communicating with her students and has a wonderful friendly personality. It's refreshing to feel life a GTF wants to know and help her students"

"Meaghan was very helpful all term. She provided the R code for our lessons so that we would be able to learn the lesson without needing to navigate R perfectly. She's good at leading people to the correct answers to questions without actually telling them. I also really enjoyed her lecture the day she filled in for Josh."

"Meaghan answers emails quickly and she is always very helpful when I have questions. She is super-smart, friendly and approachable, which I really appreciate. She has a great sense of humor as well. I like that I learned to use a statistics software package and that the labs were demonstrations of class concepts. The approach of "let's try this with the data and see what happens, then ask ourselves why" was very effective at helping get my head around the material."

Summer Field Camp, Paleontology Portion 2015

"Meaghan was a wealth of knowledge when it came to teaching me about paleosols. She willingly gave an hour lecture on the different kinds and their environments. Her passion for that area of our course made me excited to do stratagraphic sections when gathering fossils was what I was excited to do coming in."

"Meaghan was great! She was a wonderful teacher. Her criticism was always really constructive and helpful. She was really great at helping in the field, and teaching us notes and methods. The packet she put together was amazing!"

"Meaghan was great. She expected a lot from us, both in and out of the field, but we continually wanted to impress her. She was also extremely helpful in and out of the field, and didn't make fun of me for barely knowing what a paleosol is. I learned a ton from Meaghan, especially how to be competent in the field. Plus she was a pleasure to have in camp and always fun to be around."

Geology 202, Winter 2013

"Meaghan was incredible at answering questions and she always explained material in a simple way."

"She was so incredibly helpful and willing to answer as many questions as I needed. She was always available!!"

"I really enjoyed our lab leader. She was very helpful whenever I had questions, and she was always available to help. She also made questions that were worded strangely easier to understand."

At Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

"Meaghan Emery is one of the most hard working, enthusiastic, innovative science educators I have had the privilege of knowing and working with. During our time at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry outdoor science camps, Meaghan showed boundless energy for working with students on topics such as wilderness survival, ecology and biology, anthropology, and geology. In addition to her skills working with students in classroom and field exercises, Meaghan has demonstrated marked skill in designing and revising lessons and curricula. Through my work with Meaghan on curriculum revising for the OMSI paleontology research team program, she showed a predilection for incorporating the latest scientific findings into lesson plans that are accessible for instructors and engaging to students. These are a rare combination of skills, as well as intangible personality traits, and would make Meaghan one of my top choices for employees working in lab or field science, or science education." - David Levering, Director of Education and Outreach at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History

"Meaghan knows an impressive amount about biology and paleontology. When I worked with her at Hancock Field Station, she was the go-to person for any questions on herpetology. Meaghan always seemed ready to learn something new or to share her own knowledge. She was also a very competent field medic (Wilderness First Responder) when the occasional situation would arise!" - Ronnie Order, Camp and Late Elementary Programs Specialist at Denver Zoological Foundation

"Meaghan's dedication to our organization has impressed me every day. She is continually creating new activities and and updating curriculum to enrich our program, and constantly learning more on her off time and working improve her own performance. She is passionate, reliable, and innovative." - Erin Roden, Outdoor Education Manager at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.