Here's where you can find my Sully Asks A Scientist Q&A guest blog feature :D! Instead of focusing on each person's research, these posts allow readers to learn who these scientists are as people, to counter the public perception that scientists are unfeeling or scheming to take over the world :) Please let me know if there are other questions you'd like answered, or scientists you'd enjoy reading about!
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Undergrads
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Grad Students
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Post-Docs
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PIs
Coming soon!
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Technicians
Coming soon!
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A huge part of being a graduate student is teaching. In fact, most graduate students are required to serve as Teaching Assistants (TAs) as part of their funding packages. I personally feel like this is a just requirement. Teaching obviously does so much for the students and, in my experience, there can be lots of benefits for the teacher too. Through teaching, one can learn guidance, patience, and how to communicate effectively while the students gain experience and knowledge about the material being discussed. It really can, and should, be a win-win situation, and I have found that it is entirely possible to set up and maintain positive environments for all involved.
I taught three lab sections of BIOL 110 (Basic Concepts and Biodiversity) during Fall 2015, 2016, and 2020. While I originally planned on publishing blog posts throughout those semesters, I decided it would be more appropriate to wait until my graduate teaching requirements were fulfilled. Seemed a bit more professional in my opinion, especially to preserve the anonymity of the students I was teaching at the time.
I've also come to really appreciate the concept of science communication. My official teaching experiences were my first steps along the path of realizing the beauty there is in effectively communicating scientific research and principles to non-experts of all kinds. With this new found perspective, I've expanded this section to include my experiences with all kinds of audiences: my lab students, high schoolers, other scientists, general public, etc. That said, I hope you enjoy my stories and experiences as they come :)
