Teaching Philosophy
My primary goal as a teacher is to help students take ownership of the material and actively direct their own learning journey. I facilitate this by tailoring materials to the group I’m working with. I design assignments with enough structure to meet learning goals, as well as enough flexibility to let students follow their curiosity. I have found that giving students freedom by having a variety of research topics to explore concerning a given ecosystem allows students to discover new areas of fascination; some students discover new-to-them ecological phenomena such as the role of biocrusts in arid ecosystem function, while others choose to explore human-environment interactions like how citizen science can be utilized to achieve community-based restoration outcomes. A second major goal is to assist students in developing their identity as active scientists while cultivating critical thinking skills. In my teaching I emphasize that science is not a static tome of facts, but a living process of ongoing community discourse that they can contribute to. A third major goal in my teaching is help students to see the relevance of scientific research to their lives and society in general. I addressed this goal in a Restoration Ecology course which I was funded to create and teach at GW in the final year of my Ph.D. by creating coursework that integrated initiatives of the Office of Sustainability directed towards promoting biodiversity on campus. Through my teaching experience I have found that one of the best motivators is showing students how they can apply learning material to be an agent for change in the world.