Teaching & Mentoring

As a quantitative ecologist with a passion for teaching, my mission is to foster quantitative skills in a way that promotes confidence and competency for all students. I approach my teaching and mentorship using the framework of ecological forecasting. My pedagogical research highlights the utility of ecological forecasting for teaching ecological theory and quantitative skills in a context that is compelling to students (Willson et al. 2023). I also incorporate inclusive pedagogical approaches into my teaching and mentorship, including culturally-relevant instruction and the gradual release of responsibility.

Mentorship

University of Notre Dame

I mentored a number of Notre Dame undergraduate students on projects related to my dissertation work.

• Analyzed the relationship between climate and tree growth using tree ring records

• Analyzed the relationship between climate and tree growth using tree ring records

• Digitized Public Land Survey System records
• Standardized and scaled geospatial environmental data using GIS
• Developed a model quantifying the environment-vegetation relationship prior to EuroAmerican settlement in the Midwest, USA
• Wrote a first-author manuscript on which I serve as senior author (Shuman et al. in review)
• Co-authored my first-author manuscript (Willson et al. in review)
• Presented at the Ecological Society of America and American Geophysical Union annual meetings

• Searched for ecological forecasting educational resources and university courses
• Analyzed data on the availability of ecological forecasting resources (Willson et al. 2023; includes Gallo as co-author)
• Analyzed joint parameter sensitivity in the forest gap model LINKAGES
• Identified unsupported process representation in LINKAGES using model-data fusion

• Ran climate data formatting and downscaling code on Notre Dame’s Research Computing Cluster

• Parameterized the LINKAGES forest gap model using open-access data
• Debugged the translation of LINKAGES from Fortran to R

• Served as graduate mentor for the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center undergraduate program
• Developed a model of spring phenology using citizen science data (iNaturalist)

California State Polytechnic University–Humboldt

I developed an ecological forecasting mentorship program in partnership with California State Polytechnic University–Humboldt. Students in this mentorship program all participated in the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program.

• Compared the representation of vegetation-environment feedbacks in forest ecosystem models (LINKAGES & LPJ-GUESS)
• Synthesized literature and analyzed code related to feedbacks in LINKAGES and LPJ-GUESS
• Presented at the Geoscience Alliance 2022 conference

• Used educational resources I collated to learn the basics of ecological forecasting
• Completed weekly reflections to apply the curriculum to the student’s lived experiences
• Contributed an ecological forecast of water temperature and dissolved oxygen to the EFI NEON Ecological Forecast Challenge
• Received co-authorship on a manuscript for contributing to the Challenge (Thomas et al. 2023)

• Used educational resources I collated to learn the basics of ecological forecasting
• Completed weekly reflections to apply the curriculum to the student’s lived experiences
• Contributed an ecological forecast of water temperature and dissolved oxygen to the EFI NEON Ecological Forecast Challenge
• Received co-authorship on a manuscript for contributing to the Challenge (Thomas et al. 2023)

• Used educational resources I collated to learn the basics of ecological forecasting
• Completed weekly reflections to apply the curriculum to the student’s lived experiences
• Continued to participate in ecological forecasting scholarship

• Used educational resources I collated to learn the basics of ecological forecasting
• Completed weekly reflections to apply the curriculum to the student’s lived experiences

• Used educational resources I collated to learn the basics of ecological forecasting
• Completed weekly reflections to apply the curriculum to the student’s lived experiences

Classroom teaching

Teaching assistantships

• Undergraduate course for biology majors using the R statistical software
• Developed weekly lab lectures
• Led live-coding sessions to introduce students to statistical modeling software
• Graded weekly assignments and final projects analyzing data using R

• Course for incoming first year biology majors offering a broad overview of biology as a discipline
• Held review sessions prior to exams
• Graded weekly assignments and exams

• Course for incoming first year biology majors on topics specific to instructors’ research areas
• Developed two lectures on the relationship between vegetation and climate change over large spatio-temporal scales
• Graded weekly assignments and final projects (video assignments and paper analyses)

Inclusive pedagogy experience

• Attended University of Notre Dame Inclusive Pedagogy Short Course (Winter 2021)
• Co-organized two workshops for the Ecological Forecasting Initiative on inclusive pedagogy and ecological forecasting education (Summer 2021)
• Ongoing member of the Education and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Groups in the Ecological Forecasting Initative