Teaching Philosophy
In the classroom, I use evidence-based strategies to improve student persistence in STEM and science literacy in the broader population. I empower students through active learning to see the relevance of scientific inquiry for their lives and envision themselves as intellectual contributors to science. Students leave my classroom able to identify and interpret scientific information, and understand the goals and limits of empirical study. As a graduate student at Duke, I took pedagogy courses (College Teaching and Course Design, Teaching Diverse Learners and Contentious Issues, active learning workshops), cultivated extensive teaching experience at the undergraduate level, and earned a Certificate in College Teaching.
Teaching Experience
Mentorship Philosophy
In my experience, working with students on their independent research projects is a mutually productive endeavor. In the context of a research independent study, students and I can make important exploratory strides on projects with initial high chances of failure, leading to essential refinement of questions, expectations, and methods. Such "risky" projects have frequently turned into productive new avenues of research. Including students in all stages of the scientific process -- and when possible, pursuing these projects to honors theses and publications -- teaches them what a career in research is like. When it comes to decisions about their futures, this experience can be an informative complement to the facts and procedure-following that traditionally dominate their education in science classrooms and laboratory sections.
Thoughtful, committed mentorship is essential for increasing and retaining diversity in STEM, which I see as an investment in my own longevity in academia rather than a form of service. Members of under-represented groups have higher rates of academic achievement and retention in academic fields when they have strong, invested, and proactive mentors. My work with the Duke University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (see below) was formative to my perspective on mentorship as a component of increasing diversity in STEM. You can read my reflection on this experience here.
Mentorship Experience
Peer-Reviewing for Academic Journals
I have served as a peer reviewer for grants, book chapters, and journal articles. Details on my reviewing efforts for journal articles are available on Web of Science's peer review record.
In the classroom, I use evidence-based strategies to improve student persistence in STEM and science literacy in the broader population. I empower students through active learning to see the relevance of scientific inquiry for their lives and envision themselves as intellectual contributors to science. Students leave my classroom able to identify and interpret scientific information, and understand the goals and limits of empirical study. As a graduate student at Duke, I took pedagogy courses (College Teaching and Course Design, Teaching Diverse Learners and Contentious Issues, active learning workshops), cultivated extensive teaching experience at the undergraduate level, and earned a Certificate in College Teaching.
Teaching Experience
- Human Health in Evolutionary Perspective, course taught as Instructor of Record in Evolutionary Anthropology Department, Duke University, Summer Sessions 2017 and 2019
- Invited lectures at North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine (2019) and North Carolina Central University (2018)
- Graduate Teaching Assistant for Duke Evolutionary Anthropology Department; Courses: Introduction to Evolutionary Anthropology, Primate Field Biology, Primate Disease Ecology & Global Health, Human Health in Evolutionary Perspective, and Primate Sexuality, 2014-2017
Mentorship Philosophy
In my experience, working with students on their independent research projects is a mutually productive endeavor. In the context of a research independent study, students and I can make important exploratory strides on projects with initial high chances of failure, leading to essential refinement of questions, expectations, and methods. Such "risky" projects have frequently turned into productive new avenues of research. Including students in all stages of the scientific process -- and when possible, pursuing these projects to honors theses and publications -- teaches them what a career in research is like. When it comes to decisions about their futures, this experience can be an informative complement to the facts and procedure-following that traditionally dominate their education in science classrooms and laboratory sections.
Thoughtful, committed mentorship is essential for increasing and retaining diversity in STEM, which I see as an investment in my own longevity in academia rather than a form of service. Members of under-represented groups have higher rates of academic achievement and retention in academic fields when they have strong, invested, and proactive mentors. My work with the Duke University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (see below) was formative to my perspective on mentorship as a component of increasing diversity in STEM. You can read my reflection on this experience here.
Mentorship Experience
- Mentor and supervisor to undergraduate students at UVA on independent research projects: Leila Shepard, Halley Ray, Hannah Zaveri, Adianna Lockwood-Shabat, and Andreas Kamali.
- Volunteer mentor for students in Madagascar. I serve as a mentor for Lemur Love's Writing Fellows Program (2020-present), guiding students as they develop completed research projects into published research papers in English. My first mentee's paper was recently published in Lemur News. I also maintain relationships with former colleagues in Madagascar and help with analysis and writing ad hoc.
- Graduate Student Administrative Intern, Duke University Center of Exemplary Mentorship: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-funded initiative to recruit, retain, and successfully graduate under-represented minority students in physical sciences, math, and engineering Ph.D. programs. I served as graduate student mentor to the first cohort of Sloan Scholars and developed programs and materials to support them. (2018-2019).
- Mentor and supervisor to eight Duke undergraduate students on their independent research projects and Honors Theses in Evolutionary Anthropology and Biology (2014-2019): Alexa Frink, Borna Kassiri, Rachael Humke, Kyle Smith, Gloria Zhang, Abena Ansah-Yeboah, Sammy McLendon, and Rebecca Supple.
Peer-Reviewing for Academic Journals
I have served as a peer reviewer for grants, book chapters, and journal articles. Details on my reviewing efforts for journal articles are available on Web of Science's peer review record.
