Implementation matters
A curriculum can look excellent on paper and still fail in practice. Teaching experience helps me recognize workload, pacing, technology, and assessment issues before they become obstacles.
Teaching & educational leadership
Teaching informs how I lead.
My experience in the classroom keeps academic leadership connected to the work faculty and students actually do. It shapes how I evaluate ideas, support instructors, and lead changes that must succeed in practice.
80%+success rates across major gateway courses
>$300Kin annual student savings through open educational resources
2022UTA Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching
2021College of Science Outstanding Teaching Award
Grounded in practice
Academic decisions are stronger when they reflect what happens in classrooms.
I enjoy teaching because learning is active, surprising, and deeply human. That experience also makes me a better administrator. I understand the effort behind a well-designed course and the practical realities that can determine whether a promising idea succeeds.
What teaching contributes to leadership
Rigor and support belong together.
Students can be held to high standards without being left to navigate a course by trial and error. The same principle applies to faculty. People do stronger work when the purpose is clear, expectations are reasonable, and support is built into the system.
Faculty judgment matters
Shared outcomes and common expectations provide direction. They should not erase the disciplinary expertise or individual strengths that faculty bring to their courses.
Evidence matters
I look at student work and course outcomes to understand whether a design is working. Evidence is most useful when it leads to a focused change rather than a new layer of reporting.
Curiosity still matters
Good systems create room for intellectual energy rather than squeezing it out. Students and faculty are more invested when the work feels purposeful and genuinely interesting.
A current faculty perspective
Teaching across levels keeps my perspective current.
My courses range from high-enrollment introductory Biology to upper-level Ecology and graduate Toxicology. Working across those settings keeps me close to the different ways students learn and the choices faculty make every day.
Learning from living systems
Students move among field observations, quantitative models, community data, and environmental problems to see ecological theory operating in the world around them.
Investigating complex cases
Graduate students analyze realistic contamination scenarios, evaluate evidence, and communicate defensible conclusions.
Making foundational science matter
High-enrollment courses connect core biological concepts to health, society, and everyday decisions while maintaining consistent academic expectations.
From classroom to curriculum
Teaching experience strengthens program decisions.
Course-level work gives me a practical view of the larger curriculum. I can see where students need better connections between courses and where faculty need clearer structures to deliver the program well.
Program alignment
I connect course design with program learning outcomes so that skills develop intentionally across the degree. This work includes curriculum mapping, assessment, and conversations with faculty about gaps or unnecessary repetition.
Preparation for what comes next
Course-embedded certificates and capstone experiences help students recognize what they have learned and carry evidence of that learning into employment, graduate education, or health-profession programs.
Beyond my classroom
Helping faculty succeed extends the impact.
Some of my most meaningful work is helping instructors develop confidence and solve problems in their courses. Mentoring and thoughtful professional development make teaching more sustainable. Well-coordinated programs also give students a stronger experience across sections.
Faculty mentoring and onboardingOnline instructor trainingGateway-course leadershipGTA development and evaluation
Recognition