Teaching
Philosophy
My philosophy is rooted in the idea that our context drives how we interact with the world around us, and therefore, each individual will bring their own strengths and challenges to my classroom. I work to build an inclusive classroom where every student gets to bring in their authentic identity to the task at hand.
My Experience
University of Utah
Since January 2025, I have been a postdoctoral fellow in the Science Research Initiative where I lead a lab group composed of 15 - 20 undergraduate students. My students have the opportunity to generate their own data for authentic research projects, work with collaborators inside and outside the U, and build a sense of identity as an Earth Science researcher. I share details of what they're workign on on the Utah Beaver Stream page. As a postdoctoral fellow, I also teach our introductory course (SCI1500) and contribute to course content design.
Introduction to Soils at Colorado College
In October 2023, I taught Introduction to Soils at Colorado College during Block 3. During this class we went and visited all three of my PhD field sites, looked at a gradient of soil development in the Colorado Rockies in Staunton State Park, and learned about how paleosols from Toadstool Geologic Park record information about the uplift of the Rockies.
Geological Sciences Lead graduate teaching fellow
I was the CU Geological Sciences lead graduate teaching fellow for AY2021-2022. In this role, I provided teaching consultations for department TAs and led workshops on pedagogy for the Center for Teaching and Learning as well as for the department. My legacy project from this role was to help implement field safety protocols and to assess TA needs.
Certificate in College Teaching
Through the Center of Teaching and Learning at CU I received a certificate in college teaching. As a part of this certificate I received over 80 hours of both general and discipline specific pedagogical training.
Teaching Assistant at CU for 6 semesters
While at CU, I TA'd for both Earth Materials (GEOL 2005) and Structural Geology (GEOL 3120). In both classes, I helped to update materials to reflect principals of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Mentorship
The research lifecycle
My students have the opportunity to experience the full research lifecycle when working with me. We work together to find relevant background literature, develop a question, collect field samples, analyze samples and data, and present their work. While at Utah, I have had six students successfully obtain funding for their work through the UROP program, and will have 3 students presenting their work at national conferences in fall 2026.
Supporting student writing
To me, one of the most important aspects of research mentorship is improving student scientific writing. All of my second year research students write and submit research proposals and present their work both on and off campus. Together, we work on story development, editing text to be clear and concise, and developing a personal writing style.
Informal Education for elementary - high school aged students
Field geology for ages 5 - 10
For 4 summers I taught field geology summer camps for students aged 5 - 10 through CU Science Discovery. Through CU Science Discovery, I also received informal education pedagogy training and observational feedback.
Introducing students to a lab setting
In the CUBES-SIL, we have brought elementary and high school aged students into the lab. We have partnered with the GAMES program through the CU Museum and with CU Science Discovery. These experiences give students hands-on experiences in a world-class lab