Teaching Philosophy

As an educator, I take seriously my role in facilitating students’ growth as critical thinkers. When they leave my classroom, my goal is for them to be equipped with tools to thoughtfully engage with the world. To do so, I design engaging activities to facilitate student ownership over their learning; connect content to real-world scenarios using place-based examples; incorporate diversity and representation in my classroom curricula; and build reflection into course design to cultivate a growth mindset.

Courses taught

Instructor and Curriculum Design

2023 - Exploring Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1 semester, 77 students)

2023 - General Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1 week, 64 students)

2023 - Introduction to Environmental Studies, Edgewood College (1 week, 18 students)

Graduate Teaching Assistant

2019-2021 - Introductory Biology Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Madison (3 semesters, 154 students)

2020 - General Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (virtual, 1 semester, 24 students)

Guest Lectures

2024 - “Malvids: Myrtales, Gerniales, Brassicales, Malvales.” Flowering Plants: Diversity, Evolution, and Systematics, Department of Environmental Biology, SUNY-ESF.

2024 - “Internal Structure of Plants.” Flowering Plants: Diversity, Evolution, and Systematics, Department of Environmental Biology, SUNY-ESF.

2024 - “Ecophysiology: Plant Traits and Environmental Adaptations.” Plant Physiology, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant

2019 - Forest and Shade Tree Pathology, SUNY ESF (1 semester)

2018 - General Biology Laboratory, SUNY ESF (1 semester)

2016 - General Biology Lecture and Discussion, SUNY ESF (1 semester)

Teaching as research

Introduction to Environmental Studies. I’ve made undergraduate education an integral part of my training as a graduate student. I have completed coursework and a teaching internship as part of the Delta Certificate in Research, Teaching, and Learning program at UW-Madison. In spring 2023, I assessed changes in student attitudes toward and understanding of the nitrogen cycle after they played “The N Game”, a board-game representation of nitrogen cycling, in an introductory environmental science class at Edgewood College.

General Ecology. I have further incorporated teaching the nitrogen cycle into my dissertation, where I am interested in the potential roles of gameplay and inquiry-based learning in changing student attitudes and understanding of the nitrogen cycle. I have implemented a lab and discussion module in General Ecology, an upper-level ecology course at UW-Madison. In addition to incorporating “The N Game”, I designed a simulation model of the nitrogen cycle that students manipulate using an online interface via a Shiny application programmed in R. In this module, students iteratively build and manipulate the stocks and fluxes of the nitrogen cycle, exploring hypotheses on the potential influence of changing climate, land use, and disturbances on the size of the cycle’s components through time.

Check out the Shiny app here!

Exploring Biology. Finally, I completed the Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement (WISCIENCE) Scientific Teaching Fellows program to practice skills in pedagogy. As part of this yearlong program, I took coursework and gained practical experience in college science teaching, materials design, and a mentored practicum, the latter of which was a co-designed and collaboratively taught first-semester freshman course, Exploring Biology.

Undergraduate mentorship

I view it as my obligation to support marginalized and excluded members of my community and have and will continue to do so through intentionally mentoring students of marginalized identities. I have prioritized mentorship while at UW-Madison, including mentoring eight students of diverse gender identities and backgrounds. For each, I create a welcoming environment and encourage a sense of ownership over their work. I set clear expectations at the outset of our working relationship and help students establish goals to further their personal and professional growth. Two mentees, Zach and Eileen, are each part of manuscripts published (Ausavich and Kiel 2024) or in review (Kiel, Mavencamp, and Turner in revision).

Here’s an example document I provide at the start of working with students to set clear expectations, outline important context and background information, and provide key resources and deliverables.

Here’s a talk I gave at the Ecological Society of America’s 2024 Annual Meeting on integrating mentorship and inquiry-based learning through a multi-year research project.