Professor of Biology and Associate Chair of Biology Department
Areas of interest: Evolutionary biology, plant reproductive biology, conservation biology, physiological ecology
Education:
Courses taught: Biology Writing; Evolution, Organisms & Ecology; Plant Biology; Conservation Biology; Biology of Sex and Gender; Senior Seminar, Research Problems
Teaching philosophy: My highest priorities for teaching science to undergraduates are inspiring excitement about and understanding of scientific processes, fostering students' critical thinking skills, and enhancing their communication skills. I strive to teach my courses in ways that allow the students to digest and retain a great deal of content and to fit that information into a meaningful framework. In addition to my classroom teaching, I am convinced that advising and mentoring individual students is crucially important work that I do at 天美传媒.
Research interests: I am intrigued by the diverse strategies plants use to cope with their environments. In one area of my research, I seek to answer questions about how plants survive and thrive in harsh environments such as the exposed basin of the limestone quarry in 天美传媒's Nature Park. In another set of projects, I am investigating how and why some species of flowering plants maintain a variety of floral color morphs within populations. All of my research is collaborative work: I enjoy developing projects with other faculty members, and especially with 天美传媒 students.