Teaching

Teaching & Mentoring

I am passionate about engaging with students through teaching. My mission as an educator is to center student development by fostering confidence, skill-building, and scientific thinking. I want my students to be able to formulate questions and hypotheses, think mechanistically about ecosystem processes, and critically evaluate policy and management in light of scientific evidence. I aim to implement evidence-based practices in my classes, and I emphasize field instruction centered on local environments to provide authentic, hands-on learning experiences.

Teaching experience

Instructor (University of Montana): Fire Ecology
Teaching Assistant (University of Montana): Fire Ecology; Elements of Ecological Restoration
Teaching Assistant (Colorado College): Introduction to Global Climate Change; Energy Systems; Water: Hydrology, Chemistry, and Ecology; Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions

Training in teaching

Indigenous Worldviews & Education International Seminar, 2022
Inclusive STEM Teaching online course, 2022
Mobile Institutes on Scientific Teaching (MOSI) Fellow, 2022
University of Montana Engaging Teaching Certificate, 2021

Fire Ecology field trip to the Lolo Peak Fire near Missoula, MT, in September 2021. Students observed a recently burned subalpine forest and collected data on pre-fire stand structure and post-fire tree regeneration. After the field trip, they conducted statistical analyses in R and wrote a final report using class data.

Mentoring

Mentoring experience

I serve as a mentor for the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center's Rapid Climate Assessment Program, which hosts summer graduate student research assistantships conducting literature syntheses and assessments that contribute to actionable science efforts for our partners. Past projects included:

Ecological Transformations in Sagebrush Ecosystems
Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument Climate Impact Assessment
Climate Change Impacts on Introduced Cool-Season Grasses in the Prairie Potholes