Teaching

In the classroom, I strive to use both instruction and mentoring to provide my students with a balanced education that will empower them as they become lifelong learners and biologists. I have worked diligently to combine current developments in biology, technology, and various pedagogical techniques to create an engaging, high quality, student centered learning environment for my lectures and laboratories.  I have included some specific examples of this work below.  

Underrepresented Scientist OER

Northeastern Illinois University and its Department of Biology have been working to center diversity and amplify the voices of underrepresented scholars. To help with this, my co-editor and I developed an assignment where undergraduate and graduate students identified underrepresented scientists and researched their personal story and their contributions to science. This assignment culminated in a final paper based on the students’ research. In the Spring of 2023, this assignment was instituted in our Senior Seminar and Biological Literature courses for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, respectively. From the completed assignments ten were chosen for inclusion in this publication. These ten scientists were selected by the individual students because they connected to them or their work in a meaningful way and wanted to share that connection with other students and faculty. We hope that this book will be helpful to faculty and students in the sciences who are engaged in their own diversity, equity, and inclusion work and make meaningful examples easier to find and incorporate into your biology curriculums.  

The book can be downloaded at the following link: https://neiudc.neiu.edu/oer/1/ 

RCN-UBE Grants

I am actively participating in two Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE) grant funded by the NSF.  The first is a collaboration with The Department of Energy Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase) Educators Group.  As part of this grant I have developed and led the implementation and data collection on a series of bioinformatics teaching exercises at NEIU. This collaborative work resulted in a 2021 publication in Frontiers in Education.  The most recent of these exercises was implemented in General Biology 2 and has students studying the impact of fertilizer on plant growth and microbial community composition using metagenome sequencing and bioinformatic tools.  

I am also a co-PI on a second RCN-UBE project, which aims to connect non-model genome researchers with educators to provide authentic bioinformatics research experiences in undergraduate courses. We have implemented exercises for this grant in my Genomics and Proteomics course.  As part of these exercises students use bioinformatics tools to explore circadian gene orthologs in novel microbes isolated from the environment. 

Interdisciplinary Courses

I have developed innovative interdisciplinary courses and exercises that draw on my research interests in photopollution. “The Study of Light in Art and Biology” was designed in collaboration with Dr. Nate Mathews (a photography professor at NEIU) for the new Science Technology Engineering Art and Math (STEAM) minor, while “Environmental Health” was designed for the new Master of Public Health program.  

Chronobiology in the Classroom and Laboratory

I have added new modules based on my circadian rhythms research to my existing courses. For example, in my Chronobiology and Research Skills courses, I have created a series of lectures and lab exercises that allow students the opportunity to measure their own circadian rhythms using sleep diaries and state-of-the-art temperature probes and activity monitors. These exercises have been very well received. This is particularly true for our graduate students, many of whom do not have the opportunity to participate in a large number of lab courses or research opportunities. 

I have strived to give my students real-life connections to the learning process and to develop crucial critical thinking skills.  My peer and student evaluations have been extremely positive. They focused on my adept use of technology in the classroom, my enthusiasm for and my knowledge of the subject matter, and my ability to utilize meaningful and engaging examples. Taken together these strong evaluations suggest that my students appreciate my teaching style and are enjoying my courses, and that my peers find me to be a highly effective educator.