Teaching Philosophy

The background of students in universities and colleges today is far more diverse than in the past. Students enter the classroom with different academic preparations, life experiences and cultural backgrounds. Meanwhile, the knowledge and skills we impart has also grown more diverse, expansive and multidisciplinary. As instructors, advisors and mentors, no longer can we prejudge student expectations or how they will learn, nor can we presuppose to know all the answers.

At the undergraduate level, in meteorology and environmental sciences, not only are we teaching core skills and tools for future professionals, but we are also teaching students how to think, analyze and critically question assumptions, which are skills needed for all professional fields. As such, inquiry-based learning, where concepts are taught using the methods of scientific discovery, observation and testing, is a key tool for teaching critical thinking skills. I enjoy classes where instructors use their own research data as learning tools. I also feel that we need to stress writing and communication skills in all classes, for which many students and scientists are underprepared. We are also educating community stakeholders and citizens who will be making decisions about the future of the earth system at local to global scales and who have a general curiosity of the environment around them. Lectures and assignments that connect core concepts to community issues, environmental appreciation and everyday decision-making serve these purposes well.

At the graduate level, we are training future colleagues and professionals, who will need research and decision-making tools to further their own careers. In addition to teaching core fundamental concepts of the discipline, graduate core classes should allow students to have input into the syllabus, perhaps even having students present some of the material related to their own research. Future scientists also need insight on how to conduct their own research and the limitations of our current understanding. One way to do this is by studying concepts through published journal articles, following the historical process of the development of an idea. This also teaches graduate students skills needed to read and understand scientific literature. Professional development based assignments, such as proposal writing, literature searches, poster creation and short presentations are also useful at the graduate level.

Advising

If you're interested in joining my lab to pursue a graduate degree or post-doc fellowship, please contact me to discuss options. I typically have 1-2 student slots open once every few years and the application process is competitive.

A key role of faculty is to advise and mentor students and a key tool for this is having the ability to listen. Weekly seminar-format group meetings and regular individual meetings with advisees can help ensure opportunities are provided to do so. As graduate students usually start by building on existing research and only with time establish independent research, I believe good advisors lay out clear goals in the beginning, start their students on small subprojects and slowly ramp up responsibilities as the students accomplish more. Over time, students can be expected to develop more of their own ideas, write their own fellowship/thesis proposals or help with their advisors', present at conferences, publish first-author papers and collaborate with other colleagues. I believe that advisors should also work on developing their own lab management and conflict-resolution skills though external workshops and mentoring from faculty.