My goal as an educator is to prepare students to solve complex problems by providing them with the conceptual understanding and relevant skills they need in an environment in which they feel empowered to direct their own learning. To that end, my teaching philosophy emphasizes experience-based learning, interdisciplinary curricula, and communication skills.

Teaching experience

Instructor of Record
This semester (Spring 2023) I am a Visiting Assistant Professor at Occidental College teaching Avian Biology (BIO 360 & 360L). Facilitated by the world-class bird collection at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology, this upper-division undergraduate course provides a holistic overview of class Aves with a focus on placing the incredibly diversity of bird morphology, physiology, and behavior in an evolutionary context. Through lab study time and field trips to local birding spots my students are learning all major families of North American birds with an emphasis on identifying local birds of Southern California by sight and sound. Stay tuned for updates on this course throughout the semester!

Teaching Assistant
I have been a teaching assistant for three undergraduate courses ranging from introductory to upper level (including graduate students). As a teaching assistant I actively sought opportunities to provide feedback to the instructors of record based on my daily interactions with students, and developed additional course materials that have since been incorporated into the curricula, including materials on research question and hypothesis development, scientific writing, and a lab on bird calls and songs. I have also assisted in adapting course materials for online sections of hybrid lab courses and training other TAs in online instruction.

Introductory Biology Laboratory (BIOL 1208)
 Louisiana State University, 2015 (in-person - 60 students), 2020-21 (online - 55 students)
Principles of Genetics (BIOL 2153)
Louisiana State University, 2016 (60 students)
Ornithology (BIOL 4142  - combined undergraduate and graduate) 
Louisiana State University, 2019 (24 students)

Taking a Northern Cardinal out of the net with undergrad Marky Mutchler on a training field trip to Texas.

Course development

Molecular Phylogenetics Lab (BIO 326L)
Occidental College, Spring 2022
I developed materials for a computer-lab based course designed to provide hands-on experience conducting analyses with phylogenetic datasets, including: basic command-line skills, downloading sequence data from NCBI GenBank, sequence alignment, gene tree and species tree estimation using maximum likelihood, Bayesian, and multispecies coalescent methods, and divergence dating. Students completed each module during class time using a recently published dataset on the evolution of the SARS-CoV2 virus, which connected module topics to relevant real-world problems and provided a collaborative environment for students to problem-solve through peer teaching and instructor guidance. Students then applied their skills outside of class in small-group projects focused on re-analyzing recently published phylogenetic datasets representing a diversity of taxa and geographic regions, and they presented their results in scientific manuscripts and in-class presentations.

An image from the Codex Mendoza depicting Nahua feather tribute. The blue bird is Cotinga amabilis.

Indians of Mexico (HIST 355)
Occidental College, Spring 2014
The idea for this project came from my experience taking Avian Biology (BIO 360), Museum Science (BIO 310), and Indians of Mexico (HIST 355) in the same semester and realizing I was uniquely positioned to understand the many references to Mexican birds made in Indigenous historical texts. I proposed the idea of a collaboration the following year and worked as a research assistant with Dr. Lisa Sousa to develop four research topics, including primary and secondary source materials, for students in HIST 355 to explore traditional Nahua (Aztec) knowledge and use of birds and feathers in preconquest and colonial Mexico. As the students were learning about the Nahua empire, they used the resources in the Moore Laboratory of Zoology, including bird specimens, to make connections between the biology of birds and their relative importance in Nahua society, religion, and economy. Students presented their research in a series of web-accessible digital exhibits through the Center for Digital Liberal Arts and the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs.