Current Courses
Development Biology Teachers Workshop,
Darling Marine Center, University of Maine (6/2018)
https://dmc.umaine.edu/
Southeast Regional Learning Assistant Workshop,
Florida International University (3/2014)
https://www.learningassistantalliance.org/
Summers Writing Institute,
University of Miami (5/2010)
I believe that learning is a twofold process that consists of (1) the acquisition of new information and (2) its synthesis, through critical thinking, into new models and ideas. Effective learning, therefore, results from the correct balance between these two processes. To achieve this goal, I make use of a variety of didactic approaches such as lecturing, small and large group discussion and hands-on exercises that encourage student to become active participants in the learning process.
As a vertebrate developmental biologist, I enjoy sharing with students the amazing process that is the successful formation of an organism from a fertilized egg. Since embryonic development relies on the proper deployment of numerous cellular and molecular processes in time and space (e.g., cell migration, cell-cell communication, spatial and temporal control of transcription, etc.), I like to use developmental biology as a platform to teach cell and molecular biology. Furthermore, the field of developmental biology has a long history of cleverly designed experiments, which I like to make frequent use of, not only to illustrate biological principles, but also to drive problem-solving inquiry and show students how science “works”.
Check out our online fate map app
- BIOL 200: Integrated Biological Principles with lab
- BIOL 312: Developmental Biology with lab
- BIOL 342: Neurodevelopment
Online resources
Professional Training
Fate map app
- We have developed a online program that simulates fate mapping experiments in a variety of organisms. This program was developed in collaboration with students from the Center for Information Technology (CIT) at Deep Run high school in Henrico, VA. Check out the program fate map app program here.