Teaching
At the City University of New York College of Staten Island, I teach various courses related to weather and climate, physical geology, and geospatial data analysis. I am proposing new courses to enhance our undergraduate program. As a Collaborator on the GeoSPACE Field Program, I instruct students on remote sensing, photogrammetry, structure from motion, scientific communication, and developing a solid foundation on volcanology basics.
My teaching philosophy revolves around universal design principles, career readiness, and collaborative learning - particularly in my lab courses. All course materials are created with accessibility in mind to ensure all students can engage in my classroom and lab settings; no one should face the struggles I encountered pursuing my STEM education, and the lack of accommodations can actively discourage students with disabilities from pursuing these degrees. Career readiness is built into my courses by sharing internship and research opportunities, providing career exploration assignments, inviting guest speakers from the Center for Career and Professional Development, collaborating with the Industry Specialist, and designing courses to assist in skill development desirable for employers. Collaborative learning is an essential skill for your educational development and professional life. In many of my courses, labs in particular, you are encouraged to work in groups, have discussions, collaborate on methods, struggle together (with support), and succeed together. Peer learning is an excellent way to engage with course material and is fundamental in the workplace when you enter your professional life.
A list of my current courses can be found below, and the course descriptions are derived from the CUNY CSI Undergraduate Course Catalog. As I teach and develop new courses, this page will be updated semester-by-semester for easy access.
Semester: Fall/Spring
Taught: Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024
Atmospheric composition and structure related to weather events and their impact on humans and ecosystems. Explore basic physical laws of energy and motion to explain temperature, precipitation, atmospheric circulation and storms. Earth's climate system and atmospheric energy balance.
Semester: Fall/Spring
Taught: Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024
Exercises in weather monitoring, climate zones and interpretation of storms and other meteorological events. Interpretation of models and data sets relating to anthropogenic changes to atmospheric chemistry and climate.
Semester: Fall/Spring
Taught: Spring 2024
An introduction to rocks and minerals, geologic time, global tectonics and other earth processes. Field simulations and exercises provide students with the framework for rock and mineral identification, mapping, model interpretations, and process visualization. A Field trip is required.
Semester: Fall and Spring
Taught: Fall 2023, Spring 2022
Description: Mineral and Rock identification, exercises working with topographic and geologic maps, plate tectonics, and earthquakes.
Semester: Fall
Taught: Fall 2022, Fall 2023
This course examines and applies the laws of physics to the study of the properties and circulation of the World’s Oceans. The course participants will learn the large-scale distributions of the ocean’s physical properties, the transport by mean and fluctuating ocean currents, and the interactions among the physical, chemical, and biological components of the ocean.
Semester: Spring
Taught: Spring 2023
Tools such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Google Earth are utilized to interpret geologic and environmental data. This course introduces earth and environmental science students to applications of geographic information systems, emphasizing hands-on field experience in collecting spatial location data and in mapping geologic and environmental data using GIS software. Topics include: geodesy; spherical and plane coordinate systems; spatial data concepts, including error, accuracy, and precision; location measurement technologies including GPS: vector and raster GIS data structures and file types, basic GIS operations, including georeferencing of raster files and editing of vector files; assembly of field data over a base map; analysis of spatial relationships using GIS tools; symbology and methods of map presentation.
GEO 450: Internship
Semester: Fall/Spring
Taught: Spring 2023
Approved internship working or conducting research in Earth and/or Environmental Science, with a minimum of 120 hours.
Semester: Summer based out of the University of Florida
Taught: Summer 2022, Summer 2023
The GeoSPACE program is a planetary geology and volcanology field course. You don't need prior experience in any of these areas, but you do need a basic foundation in geoscience. This field course is multi-modal – enabling active engagement by students, TAs and faculty in the field and virtually through synchronous and asynchronous communication, data collection and analysis. The GeoSPACE program is built on the idea that field courses can and should be accessible and inclusive. Beyond the field course, GeoSPACE students become part of a mentoring and support network designed to help students find success in their future geoscience endeavors. In addition to creating opportunities for people with disabilities and other marginalized identities to gain field experience and mentorship, our goal is to act as a model for other field course leaders who are interested in creating more equitable field learning opportunities for their students.
For more details on the outcomes of this program check out our teams' resources.