Teaching

I teach with the philosophy that positive and effective learning spaces are built upon a foundation of empathy, mutual respect, and inclusivity. My goals as a teacher are to empower curiosity and inquiry and facilitate tangible connections to complex concepts. 

I believe strongly in the power of experiential nature-based education to improve inclusivity and high achievement in the natural sciences.

Limnology Lab 

UC Davis Spring 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 - Lead TA

Upper-division undergraduate course; 20-30 students

Field (5 hours/week) and lab (4 hours/week) based course. 

Course description: Limnological studies of lakes, streams, and reservoirs with interpretation of aquatic ecology.

Teaching Award: 2023 UC Davis Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award

Instructor of Record: Steve Sadro

Best Practices for Project Management in Ecology - Seminar

UC Davis Fall 2022

Graduate-level participatory seminar; 19 students

Course description: Are you feeling overwhelmed managing one or more research projects? Do you wonder how some people do this with astounding efficiency? Chances are they rely on a series of good practices, organizational structures, and software tools. It’s likely that you incorporate some, but perhaps not all, of these tricks-of-the-trade. This 290 is designed to facilitate a series of weekly student discussions where we can all learn from each other and ultimately achieve effective and efficient project management. Potential topics include database design and management, reference management, file path design, version control, and code organization. 

Student organizers: MJ Farruggia and Dave Ayers

Faculty sponsor: Steve Sadro

Landscape Genetics - Seminar

UC Davis Winter 2021

Graduate-level participatory seminar; 9 students

Course Description: Participants will gain familiarity with the basic concepts, analyses, research designs, and applications of landscape genetics (and potentially genomics, if enough interest). This will not give participants a robust understanding of how to run or validate specific modeling techniques used in landscape genetics or quantitative spatial analyses, but it should still provide an introduction to the concepts underlying these models and point participants toward resources for specific modeling help.

Student organizers: MJ Farruggia and Bryan Currinder

Faculty Sponsor: Andrea Schreier