Teaching philosophy. The role of the teacher is to help students along their own journeys of lifelong learning. The best way to do so is to teach with enthusiasm, compassion, and levity.

 

I strive to be a lifelong learner; there is no better way to do so than to teach. For one thing, teaching forces a deeper understanding of concepts being taught. For another, learning to teach is a process itself: as I have received more pedagogical training, I’ve come to belatedly appreciate the value of the discussions and group projects that I loathed as an undergraduate. But methods alone do not constitute effective teaching. Enthusiasm is essential; if you care deeply about what you teach, your students will as well. Likewise, teaching with compassion—which I define as signaling to your students that you see and respect them as individuals—helps students feel valued and confident in their abilities. Finally, I teach with levity because humor and storytelling make class more memorable and engaging. In combination with deliberate pedagogical methods (see below), enthusiasm, compassion, and levity make for teaching that helps students love to learn.           

 

Courses Taught at OSU

General Ecology (BIOL 3034)

Animal Biology (BIOL 1604)

Macroecology Graduate Seminar (BIOL 5010)

Biodiversity Appreciation (BIOL 3700)

 

Biodiversity Appreciation (Summer 2026)

In Summer 2026, I created and taught Biodiversity Appreciation at OSU’s Doel Reed Center for the Arts in Taos, NM. This was a two-week, field-based course (9 students) that blended field ecology, environmental literature, and visual art to explore our connection to the natural world. It was a blast!