I am very interested in how we learn, and how educators might enhance this learning. I aim to develop productive learning environments that benefit both students and instructors, and promote the advancement of scholarship as a whole. In my time at UW, I’ve been very fortunate to collaborate with educational researchers and highly motivated faculty and students in developing classes and curricula that promote our educational goals. I have therefore taught in large introductory Biology classes as well as smaller specialist classes, and serve on both the School and College’s curriculum committees.

My current teaching includes the following classes:

Fish / Ocean / MarBio 370 Marine Evolutionary Biology

Here, we develop and apply evolutionary thinking in a wide range of topics in the marine sciences. These include the role of biota in global chemical cycles, the origin and progression of life, the impacts of mass extinction events and human-induced change, the conservation and management of marine populations, and medical discovery. This course is a core subject within the new Marine Biology degree, and syllabus development involved a fun and productive collaboration between SAFS, Oceanography and Biology faculty. Took us to areas we hadn’t considered in traditional evolution classes – I mean, how many courses include the changes in the composition of the ocean, the appearance of coral reefs and evolution of deep sea biota?

Fish 444 Conservation Genetics

This is a class aimed at integrating theory in evolutionary and ecological genetics with practice in conservation. This is the only class I’ve been teaching since the start of my career, and we’ve had great fun “evolving” it with changes in the field. We spend a bit of time with theory, before moving into a range of applications. We conduct an independent research project every year based on ongoing research in our group, with the aim of developing skills typical of our field. Recently, we’ve ventured into bioinformatics and the use of R packages (in an accessible way!). Our productive and interactions with the students in this class have led to pretty creative thinking for all of us….

Fish 522 Hot Topics in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

This class is the first that our incoming grad students take, and is part survey, part bonding session. Designed by consultation with grad students, we debate the literature underlying current issues across our fields. The topics are decided by different pairs of faculty who visit every week. In truth, I’m the caretaker, moderating the online and in-class discussions. I learn as much about my valued colleagues’ research as the participants, and it really is a pleasure to be involved. Someone is going to find out and take this class away from me.