With these approaches, I continue my own education and inquiry to help students and peers learn what I know in the classroom, field, and research laboratory settings.
The rewards and challenges of teaching thrill me because inspiring excitement and interest in the environment, biological sciences, and conservation is my contribution to the future potential of young scientists. Integrating short lectures with labs and discussions has worked well for me, because the hands-on experience instills lasting memories among students. Furthermore, I find applied classes that focus on experiential education can be even more exciting and influential on students in learning and retention. Whether our class visits local parks and preserves to study urban ecosystem functions or participates in an international short field course to study tropical ecology, the first-hand experiences can have permanent impacts on students and how they think as scientists.
I have also taught more traditional undergraduate courses including Conservation Biology, Zoology, Mammalogy, and Ecology. Traditional does not imply a lack of innovation; rather we utilize novel technologies to conduct cutting edge research that provides students with theoretical and applied skills. To name a few of these exciting scientific tools, we have used active and passive data collection methods, such as camera trapping and camera phones, modern collaborative technologies like Google docs and Moodle, as well as unique ways to use social media in research and public outreach.
In my most recent honors course, I taught students how to conduct literature reviews and we are now collaborating on a review article about
