My teaching philosophy is to engage students with hands-on, self-guided activities and open discussion that employs the Socratic method. Ultimately, my goal is to teach students to develop the ability to effectively answer their own questions and think critically about a topic from multiple angles. I believe that students who are taught to think critically gain more from their education than those who only memorize facts. I strive to transform my learning experiences into teaching skills that will benefit students so that I can influence the next generation of global citizens.
Courses
University of Kentucky
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Evolution (4 semesters teaching assistant, 1 semester developing recitation activities)
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Ecology (2 semesters teaching assistant)
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Introductory Biology (1 semester teaching assistant)
University of Arizona
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Quantitative Ecology (1 semester teaching assistant)
Undergraduate Research Mentoring
Summer 2013 – 1 Intern
Spring 2017 – 1 BIO395 student
Spring and Fall 2018 – 2 BIO395 students each semester
Spring 2019 – 5 BIO395 students
Fall 2019 – 4 BIO395 students
Spring 2020 – 1 ENT395, 1 BIO395, 1 BIO398, 1 BIO398 Honors, and 1 BIO395 Honors students
*Explanation of course codes:
BIO395 is an independent research course where students are required to develop and conduct and experiment that culminates in a poster presentation or final paper formatted as a scientific article. ENT395 is an equivalent course offered in the Entomology Dept.
BIO398 is an independent research course where students are required to participate in data collection, while developing, researching, and writing a literature review.
Any course with an Honors designation requires students to develops and conduct an independent experiment that culminates in a poster presentation and a literature review.
Undergraduate Research Presentations
2014
Poster at North Carolina State University Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium
2017
Poster at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research
Poster at the University of Kentucky Undergraduate Student Showcase
2018
Two posters at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research
2019
Five posters at the University of Kentucky Undergraduate Student Showcase
