Biographical Information: I grew up in California and received my Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science in 1987 from the University of California at Riverside; then got my MS in Soil Science from North Carolina State University in 1991; then got my PhD in Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University in 1997. Since then, I've worked at OU with a joint appointment in the departments of zoology and botany-microbiology. My main job at OU is to teach nonmajors biology classes, but I also occasionally teach a variety of other classes, ranging from mycology (the study of fungi) to scientific writing.
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Here I am with a (cropped out) friend.
It's a fairly accurate representation, although I now have more gray hair.
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Despite my "indoor" jobs, I am happiest
when I am outdoors. This is me, lounging around at a beautiful box canyon in
eastern Idaho. |
The other main part of my life is that I am a textbook author for McGraw-Hill. I have two titles (Biology: Concepts and Investigations and Biology: The Essentials), targeted at different types of general biology classes. I love these projects because of the different perspective they give me on teaching.
I am also interested in applying technology such as clickers and online assessment in both lecture and lab; teaching labs for nonmajors is especially difficult, which explains why my favorite professional organization is the Association for Biology Laboratory Education. Beyond biology teaching and writing, I enjoy spending time with my husband and traveling. Also, in September of 2010 I started running. When I started, I could not run across the street without getting winded. But now I am proud to say I can complete a 5K race without dying. I will not go so far as to say that I love running, but I can see how it's good for me, and I do like activities I can do outside, so I keep on doing it. |
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Communication: I check my ou.edu email continuously from about 8am-5pm on weekdays and fairly often on weekends as well, so feel free to email me. That is usually the best way to reach me, although I am an early-to-bed and early-to-rise kind of person, so I don't answer emails very late at night. I also have an office phone on which you may be able to reach me, or you could try to come by and catch me in my physical office, if you're on campus.
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