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I am a firm believer in the transformative power of science and education, and I feel privileged that, as a member of the higher education community, I am at an ideal position to help enhance the poor levels of scientific literacy in the US. I am committed to that as one of the primary goals of my professional career.
I have been a teaching assistant for freshmen Introductory Biology labs at Louisiana State University for several semesters, for which I have been awarded the William H. Gates Award for excellence in freshman instruction. At Rice University, I have taught Ornithology and Entomology as instructor of record. Between these two experiences--teaching intro labs at a large state flagship schools and teaching upper-level classes at highly-selective private institution--, I think I have experienced two extremes of the breadth of types and cultures of tertiary teaching in the US. I feel they have prepare me for almost any challenge I might encounter as a college or university teacher. Teaching and research at the undergraduate level are indissociably linked for me. At LSU, I have enlisted almost ten undergraduate students to assist with data generation for my research on the macroevolution of bird color. I trained them on the use of research specimens and on reflectance spectrophotometry, indoctrinated them on the importance of collections-based research and tried my best to present a friendly, relaxed and welcoming face for science. I have found that these students are almost invariably receptive, cheerful and hard-working. A couple of the most enthusiastic went on to develop semi-independent research projects of their own. Tyler Howard worked on characterizing the perplexing plumage color variation observed in the Bright-rumped Atilla, culminating with him presenting his results as first author of a poster at the 2018 American Ornithological Society meeting in Arizona; and Brandi Sun wrote and presented an outstanding Honors Thesis on patterns of sexual dichromatism across different body patches in antbirds (Thamnophilidae). I have never received formal training in mentoring, but I definitely plan to do that as soon as I have the chance. Photos: Top: Rice University ornithology students at one of our field trips in the Spring of 2023. Middle: an insect collection by two of my entomology students at Rice in Fall 2023. Bottom: Me and LSU student Tyler Howard in front of his poster at the AOS meeting in Arizona in 2018. |