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As a scientist and an educator, one my most exciting tasks is to facilitate encounters between people and that natural world.
I've taught classes at small liberal arts colleges and universities, large state schools, and in the K-12 system.
Developed classes - single instructor
Introduction to Biology - Ecology, Animal, and Plant Diversity
Introduction to Ecology
Conservation Biology - Restoration, resilience, and reconciliation
Interdisciplinary Organismal Biology - Ethno-, Forensic, and Medicinal Botany
Organismal Biology - The Secret Sex Lives of Plants
Interdisciplinary Core - The Evolution of Sex
Freshman Scientific Writing - Cultivating Wildness
Honors Seminar - Sex in the Tree of Life
Developed classes - multi- instructor
Freshman Seminar - Weedy Plants: Life and death among unwanted plants
Freshman Seminar - Weedy Plants, what are they good for?
Invited Guest Lectures
General Biology
Ecology for Landscape Designers
Plants and People
Plant Diversity and Evolution
Plants and Human Society
Botany in the world
In an upper-level organismal biology course on ethno, forensic, and medicinal botany, we conducted assays on the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of selected plants.
Real-world biology
In an upper-level organismal biology course on the ecology and evolution of plant reproductive strategies, I integrate labs into class time. We find evidence of plant sex in all kinds of places, including the supermarket. You can see what our sleuthing uncovered here.
Writing in the Discipline
In a writing seminar entitled Cultivating Wildness, students discuss the ecology of wilderness, conservation, and restoration. In this interdisciplinary course we use peer-reviewed literature, unpublished data, philosophy, poetry, and photography to engage with questions such as:
What is wilderness?
What does it mean to restore the land?
What role do humans have in natural spaces?
Novel assessments of student learning
What is sex and how did it originate? Who has sex and who doesn’t?
Why does it stick around? Does sex even matter?
In this class we discussed the diversity of ways in which organisms throughout the tree of life mate and reproduce, and the benefits and drawbacks to different types of reproduction.
Check out our class instagram feed at #colgatecore110
Read more about our class activities below:
Enhancing public scientific literacy
Using instagram in class
Investigating novel research questions
In a junior-senior class on reproduction, students conducted CUREs (course based research experiences) and presented their work at a college-wide research symposium.
Taking class outside
In a freshman seminar we practiced foundational ecological methods to sample species diversity in the lawns around campus.
Using real-world research techniques
In a freshman seminar on the uses of spontaneous vegetations, students conducted tests on the antioxidant capacities of common lawn weeds using lab techniques utilized in field ethnobotanical research
Eating your research subjects
Sometimes these fun encounters involve our tastebuds! Here students choose common weeds (such as garlic mustard, wild onion, sorrel, hairy cress, dandelion, or chickweed) to top their pizzas.
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