I am passionate about teaching, reflected by my current role as the Associate Dean – Undergraduate Studies for the Faculty of Environment at U. Waterloo. In this role, I am responsible for all matters related to our 2,300 undergraduate students. Previously, I served as Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies in ERS.
I have taught one of our core PhD seminars (ERS702) a few times, but I have mostly taught at the undergraduate level. I develop courses that nurture inter- and transdisciplinary thinking, and I am not afraid to experiment with unconventional teaching techniques. I have taught both large “core” courses with up to 250 students, as well as much smaller field-based courses, though either way I aim to nurture experiential, reflective, and transformative learning experiences. In one of my courses, for example, students learn how to juggle to experientially ground several metaphors related to environmental thought (see a paper on this experience here). In another course, a small group of students and I spend seven days living in the outdoors together to learn about local natural history.
Click here to read a write-up about my teaching style by the University of Waterloo’s Centre for Teaching Excellence.
Click here to learn about the Science and Technology in Society teaching group at the University of Waterloo.
My regular course from 2016-2019 will include the following:
Fall:
Field Ecology (ENVS200)
I taught this large core course in the Faculty of Environment for the first time in Fall 2015.
Spring:
Ontario Natural History: Species and Patterns (ERS283)
I hold this eight-day block field course at Grebe Lodge on the Bruce Peninsula in mid-June each year. The course also includes online components leading up to the field portion of the course. There, we do group exercises to learn local natural history, focusing on birds, insects, and plants, and students also do an independent research project.
