This semester, one of the questions I asked on the final exam (to give them a freebie) was to ask them their favorite organism that we looked at during the course. I’m posting a few of my favorite responses here. I found this one particularly touching: “Thank You. You’ve actually Read more
I received this gift on the last day of class from one of my biology students. She’d grown it from a cutting . . . not only is the plant adorable, but it came with this (scientifically accurate!) caption: “Asexual plants: only 1 parent required. Parent passes all its genes Read more
Had an amazing evening with some of the folks at the Sonoma Land Trust – They graciously invited me to speak as part of their 40th anniversary speaker’s series, and I gave a talk on wildlife in freshwater habitats in Sonoma County. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! What a great Read more
I used this story to end the semester in Conservation Biology (it seemed appropriate – I started the semester with penguins, so I thought I’d end that way, too). I’m really just posting it here, though, for the gratuitous cuteness of the dog and the baby penguin. It is a Read more
. . . as part of the Sonoma Land Trust’s 40th Anniversary Speaker’s Series. I’m super excited about this opportunity – any chance to talk about cool local wildlife sounds amazing to me! Information from their website reproduced below.
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One of the most pressing issues on campus this semester was the possibilty of a teacher’s strike, in response to a lack of pay increases for faculty in recent years. “I don’t want to strike, but I will” was our motto, and I was 100% prepared to go on strike, if it had come to that.
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One of the assignments I give my intro biology students is called “Dragon Genetics,” in which they determine the alleles (versions of genes) that a baby dragon will inherit from its parents. Then, I ask them to create an accurate image of the dragon, based on the inherited traits. Most Read more
I might be biased, but this is a fantastic video about western pond turtles . . . the segment starting at 5:00 features the field site where I did my thesis research. The fellow being interviewed is my advisor, Nick Geist. And that’s your’s truly measuring the turtles in preparation Read more
Getting ready to teach my first 115 class of the semester. Oh yeah.
