Teaching Experience and Pedagogical Training

This laboratory course for biology majors explores the origin and maintenance of biological variation, from individual genetic mutations in bacteria to adaptive radiations across geologic timescales. In addition to developing mastery of course content, students immerse themselves in the scientific method, learning basic microbiological techniques and how to apply them toward probing the nature of natural selection and evolution. Students work over the course of the semester on drafting a lab report to build their scientific writing skills.

The course is organized around three connected modules:

1. Experimental evolution in bacteria. Students investigate mutation and antibiotic resistance while developing skills in microbiology, microscopy, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and sequence analysis.
2. Population genetics. Simulation-based experiments examine how natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow, mutation, population size, and non-random mating affect allele frequencies and population divergence.
3. Species and phylogeny. Students use phenotypic data to build and interpret phylogenetic trees, examine the diversity of plants and animals, and investigate adaptations associated with transitions from aquatic to terrestrial environments by performing dissections on diverse taxa.

This accelerated five-week course introduces students to evolution and ecology while connecting processes at the level of genes and populations to the diversity and distribution of life. The course also considers how human activity affects climate, habitats, and extinction risk, and how evolutionary and ecological knowledge can inform conservation.

Major topics include:

• evolutionary history, evidence for evolution, natural selection, and sexual selection;
• mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, population genetics, and speciation;
• phylogenetic reasoning, the history of life, and human evolution;
• the diversity and evolutionary relationships of bacteria, archaea, plants, fungi, and animals;
• population growth and species interactions within ecological communities; and
• ecosystem processes, global climate change, and conservation.

Lectures are paired with active-learning questions and discussion activities. Students practice applying evolutionary models, interpreting phylogenetic trees, reasoning about biodiversity, and connecting ecological processes across populations, communities, and ecosystems.

See above :)

This postdoctoral seminar focused on inclusive, learner-centered, and evidence-based instruction in undergraduate STEM courses. Through active learning, collaborative design, peer review, and practice teaching, I developed a three-dimensional introductory biology lesson that aligned learning objectives, science-practice-based activities, and assessments. The course also addressed the creation of inclusive learning communities, student motivation, evaluation of student learning, and the use of assessment data to refine instruction.