B.S. Geology, Allegheny College
M.S. Geology, Western Washington University
Ph.D. Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

One of my goals is to engage students in the content and objectives of my courses with more interactive and experiential teaching methods. What students do tends to stick with them more than what they hear in a lecture. Consequently, my courses feature class discussions, debates, student presentations, group work, and many homework assignments requiring an active effort to master the course objectives. As a geologist, oceanographer, and environmental scientist, I am also an advocate of independent field and laboratory work. Students learn and retain more by both figuring things out for themselves and getting out into the environments being discussed. Discovery-based, hands-on learning is the best!

I am also committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment in mycourses. Everyone has value in my classroom. Everyone is afforded respect.

My research and scholarship falls into two distinct (but sometimes overlapping) categories: Water Quality Research and Environmental Science and Sustainability Teaching Scholarship.

I maintain a program of supported water quality research primarily for the sake of my students. The series of research projects that I’ve fostered over the years have greatly enhanced my Environmental Monitoring Practicum course and provided funding, sites, and interested community partners for my students engaged in independent research. Community partners my students and I have worked with have included 21 Acres, the WA State Department of Natural Resources, the Island County Marine Resources Committee, the King County Water and Land Resources Division, the King County Wastewater Treatment Division, the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the City of Bothell, and the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation.