EREN: Ecological Research as Education Network

I am the Executive Director of TIDES at UT Austin.  I earned my Bachelors at the University of California San Diego, in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. A high point of my undergraduate career was studying abroad at LaTrobe University in Melbourne, Australia for a year. I earned my PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Arizona, where I worked on RNA metabolism. After a short stint in industry at a start up biotech company, I moved into education. I have been fortunate to have a variety of experiences including teaching high school, as well as at a small college, an R1 and a community college. I ran a McNair Program at Concord College in West Virginia, and worked for BCSC before taking a position at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent). From NESCent, I moved to a position in future faculty development at the University of Wisconsin.  In  2015I became the Executive Director of BioQUEST where I led the transition to a non-profit organization and played a key role in the development of QUBES.  

My goal in science education is promoting success for all students and I use the Universal Design for Learning framework to support this outcome.  I am particularly interested in teaching evolution, nature of science and quantitative reasoning skills.  Projects I have been involved in to achieve these goals include Quantitative Biology at Community Colleges (https://qubeshub.org/community/groups/qbcc), which brings together a community of mathematics and biology faculty at two year institutions to develop Open Education Resources for teaching quantitative skills in a biology context, the BioQUEST UDL Initiative, which  is focusing on bringing Universal Design for Learning practices to higher education, and EVOKE, an EU coalition focused on improving evolution education for everyone.