Teaching and Outreach
Throughout my education and career, I have found myself gravitating towards opportunities that allow me to serve in an instructional or mentorship role. I find that not only does this help me to further understand a topic or area of interest, but I enjoy facilitating excitement and curiosity in others.
In teaching, my goal is to help students understand the large concepts in a course and be able to apply those in multiple contexts. I aim to highlight how areas of science overlap with social change, human rights, and ethics. I aspire to provide a safe space where questions, observations, and engagement flows easily. I focus on application of concepts rather than rote memorization, asking questions that require the students to use critical thinking skills to produce an answer. I illustrate the excitement and wonder science has and use interpretation to frame conservation statements in bite-sized and understandable pieces that will stick with anyone, regardless of familiarity with science. Past experiences include: mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in research as a part of the Bartol Lab, teaching marine biology and the upper-level comparative physiology at Old Dominion University, teaching environmental science for non-majors at Old Dominion University, serving as Aquatics Facility and Biology Program Tour Guide at Old Dominion University, participating in the Mentoring Young Scientists program at Virginia Aquarium, teaching Honors Virology lab at University of California, Santa Cruz, and volunteering as an educator and docent at Seymour Center Aquarium. |