Foster a love of life-long learning.

Foster a set of tools broadly applicable to any challenge students will face outside of academia.  These include critical thinking, the ability to solve problems when facts and theory are incomplete, the ability to work in groups, and the ability to write a good paragraph.  These are tools that are highly prized in the workforce, not just in science.

Give students a background in the leading issues of biology balancing facts and theory. Facts without theory are catalogues of information; theory without facts rings hollow.

Instill an appreciation for science as a process, with a history of keen insights, blind alleys, squabbles, debates, and resolutions. 

Students learn by doing: by being placed in a supportive environment with a problem, and being allowed to make mistakes toward addressing that problem. 

Community Ecology 5413
How are assemblages of species structured, and why does it matter?

Principles of Ecology 3403
What regulates the distribution and abundance of organisms, and why does it matter?

Senior Capstone 4983:
The Art and Science of Biodiversity
How is the earth's biodiversity seen by its artists and its scientists?

Introduction to Zoology 1114
How did life evolve and how does it work, and why does it matter? Field trips, videos, drawing assignments complement the lecture.

Check out my litter biology for young scientists pages (in development), and stuff we put together for JASON curriculum, including a chapter on the green and brown food web, as well as a lab exercise where 4-8th grade students explore soil biodiversity.