There are many online tools that can be used to support student learning, and this has become one of my new favorites. I use the online quiz platform Kahoot to host collaborative exam review sessions. In the past, I created elaborate “Jeopardy”-style review games using PowerPoint, but I find Kahoot Read more
In the fall semester of 2015, I began teaching Restoration Ecology at Sonoma State University (SSU). In that semester, students focused on envisioning sustainable goals for Copeland Creek, its inhabitants, and its surrounding environs. In future semesters, we built upon this work, and were hosted on many fascinating field trips Read more
The global science platform iNaturalist recently started an Ambassador Program, and I’m pleased to announce that, as of September 2025, I’ve been accepted as part of their first cohort of ambassadors. iNaturalist is a community science platform where users can record and share observations of plants, fungi, and animals to Read more
I had a super fun time today doing something old, and something new! For the first time, I took some of my College of Marin students on an actual off-campus field trip, and we went to a place I have visited countless times before: Sonoma State’s Fairfield Osborn Preserve. I offered this optional weekend trip to my Introduction to Biology students for extra credit, and it was a fantastic day!
(more…)
This first week of the Fall semester at College of Marin is Flex Week, when we have the opportunity to do a wide variety of professional learning activities. One of the things I did today was the “Singing Bell Metal Casting Workshop.” Yes, metal casting! This was the first time Read more
I’m thrilled to share that I have just started a new position as a Biology Professor in the department of Life and Earth Sciences at the College of Marin! My first official day on campus was fantastic, and I am so excited to be part of this vibrant, friendly, and Read more
I did a couple of very cool things today, and I thought I’d share one of them now: I attended an Advanced Sketching workshop by Rick Simonson, sponsored by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. (The other cool thing was the last session of the Botanical Drawing workshop, and I’ll Read more
Earlier this month, SSU graduate student Jesse Schmieg offered my Vertebrate Biology students an amazing experience: my students were hosted at Jesse’s field site, where they are researching the interactions between larval tiger salamanders and predaceous diving beetles in seasonal pools. Our main task of the day: to help Jesse set up this season’s experiment. This involved “bisecting” each vernal pools into two halves, using mesh fencing. Throughout the season, Jesse and their team of research assistants will remove predaceous beetle larvae from one half of each pool, while leaving the beetle population undisturbed in the other half. Then, they will perform monitoring to see if there is any difference in the salamander populations related to the removal of these insects.
(more…)
For one of the first Vertebrate Biology field trips this year, I took my students to the Warm Springs Fish Hatchery, where we were given a fantastic tour by Ben and David. I first came to this hatchery in 2011, when I was a student in this same class (taught back then by Derek Girman). I remember being kind of bummed by the idea of visiting a fish hatchery – I thought it would be B O R I N G – but I ended up loving it so much! Super interesting, and amazing to see the way these fish populations are being supported by the work they do there. Now, it is wonderful to be able to bring my own students here for this experience.
As Sonoma State University struggles with low enrollment, program and budget cuts, and administrative mismanagement, we were fortunate to host a legislative hearing on campus, to discuss the campus’ challenges with members of our legislature. Held on the SSU campus on February 21, our campus community was joined by U.S. Read more