Teaching & Outreach: Skills

Teaching & Mentoring

I have worked with students in a variety of courses and educational settings. As a teacher and mentor, my core goals are to:

Instill the fundamentals of scientific inquiry
Foster an interest in and appreciation for science
Provide training in practical, transferrable skills that will prepare students for their chosen careers
Promote hands-on and inquiry-based learning in the classroom and the field to synthesize and reinforce learning objectives
Create a diverse, inclusive, and supportive learning environment where students can share ideas and conduct research

Student Mentoring

I have mentored 17 students on museum-based research projects, including a high school intern at the Smithsonian NMNH, 6 MAT graduate students from the American Museum in 2018, 5 MAT graduate students from the American Museum in 2019, and 5 MAT graduate students in 2020. Project titles can be found in my full CV.

Poster with intern Mary Pankowski, presented at the GSA annual meeting in 2018

MAT cohort 2019 during a research

visit to the Yale Peabody Museum.

Courses Taught

Instructor, American Museum of Natural History (May 2018-2020)

Master of Arts in Teaching Program, Museum Science Practicum Residency (3 summers)

While a postdoctoral research at the AMNH, in addition to my research within the Division of Paleontology, I was faculty in the AMNH Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in the Department of Education. The MAT degree is a residency-based program that prepares residents to teach Earth science in high needs New York schools. I worked with residents on intensive summer research projects and lead/co-lead field trips to provide them with hands-on research and field experience as part of their training.

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Ohio State University (2013-2016)

Sedimentology & Stratigraphy (3 semesters)
Introductory Geology (3 semesters)
Historical Geology (3 semesters)

Graduate Teaching Assistant, James Madison University (2015-2016)

Geology Field Camp (2 semesters)

I assisted with JMU's summer capstone field camp in Ireland in 2015 and 2016, including teaching students how to measure section and use both traditional and digital methods to produce bedrock geological maps.

Guest Lecturer, Ohio State University (2015-2016)

Historical Geology (1 semester)
Introductory Geology (1 semester)

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, James Madison University (2010-2012)

Introductory Geology (2 semesters)
Mineralogy (1 semester)
Optical Mineralogy (1 semester)
Ecology & Evolution (1 semester)

2019 field trips with MAT students in the Kingston area of New York

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2015 fieldwork with JMU field camp students in Ireland

Teaching & Mentoring

I have worked with students in a variety of courses and educational settings. As a teacher and mentor, my core goals are to:

​

Instill the fundamentals of scientific inquiry

Foster an interest in and appreciation for science

Provide training in practical, transferrable skills that will prepare students for their chosen careers

Promote hands-on and inquiry-based learning in the classroom and the field to synthesize and reinforce learning objectives

Create a diverse, inclusive, and supportive learning environment where students can share ideas and conduct research