I have been a teacher for as long as I have been a researcher. Students describe me as helpful, approachable, engaging, passionate about the material, and well organized. I use humor, active learning, exposure to cutting-edge topics, problem solving, and a respect for diverse learning styles to make learning easier and fun, engage students with important but often intimidating subjects, and ultimately empower students to realize their potential as both learners and budding professionals.
Teaching at Ball State University
BIO 216 Ecology (on occasion): A 3-credit, course in which students learn about fundamental principles and concepts in Ecology through incentivized readings, lectures, and both individual and group projects that emphasize the practical application of ecological knowledge to environmental problems. Includes a Twitter-based assignment (#ecology216), and a project based on NEON data (read about it in this blog post).
BIO 448 Biometry (annually): A 3-credit course that combines a “flipped-classroom” approach with more traditional elements (e.g., assignments, exams) to teach students to design studies, explore and summarize data, and conduct appropriate analyses in R – all essential skills for a career that involves data.
BIO 480 Limnology (every 1-2 years, 3 credits): an in-depth characterization of the fundamental features of common inland aquatic ecosystems, with emphasis on the interaction of biological processes and the physio-chemical conditions in freshwater lakes and rivers. The five indoor and five outdoor labs in this course are particularly popular. Other learning opportunities include lectures, readings, and exams.
BIO 648 Biostatistics (annually): A graduate version of BIO 448 (see above) that covers a broader array of statistical techniques and tests, in part through a major project wherein students develop and code an analysis plan for their data, and a summary plan for their results.
ZOOL 465 Fisheries Resource Management (even years): A 3-credit course that covers the basic concepts and specific methods for managing fisheries, including common techniques for describing, analyzing, interpreting, and modeling data in R. Emphasis is on inland, recreational fisheries. Material is covered and reinforce through readings, short lectures, in-class activities, homework assignments, and field trips.
The STOREFISH project (each semester): A 1-credit, special topics seminar in partial fulfillment of a Thomas Jefferson Fund grant with collaborators in France. Students in this seminar extract data from the literature, curate the STOREFISH database, learn about fish biology and data management, test hypotheses, and publish results in the peer reviewed literature.
Courses taught at other institutions
Analysis of Populations (4 cr., seniors/grads, co-taught, University of Minnesota)
Aquaponics: Integrated Fish and Plant Food Systems (4 cr., seniors/grads, co-taught, University of Minnesota)
Aquatic Invertebrates of Alberta (lab TA, juniors, University of Alberta)
Environmental Biology (lab TA, sophomores, University of Toronto)
Field Methods in Research and Conservation of Vertebrate Populations (4 cr., juniors, co-taught, University of Minnesota)
Fish Physiology and Behavior (3 cr., seniors/grads, University of Minnesota)
Fisheries Population Analysis (3 cr., seniors/grads, University of Minnesota)
Organisms in their Environment (lab TA, freshmen, University of Alberta)
Organisms in their Environment (lab TA, freshmen, University of Toronto)
