My teaching focuses on arming students with analytical tools for confronting the pressing issues of our time in a world of unprecedented environmental crises. Climate change, resource depletion, natural disasters, and extinction dominate the Anthropocene, and we have vast evidence that humans are pushing the limits of our planetary boundaries for supporting human life on Earth. Emerging environmental scientists must therefore be equipped with diverse and interdisciplinary skillsets for tackling these complex environmental problems to ensure the long-term sustainability of people and planet.

Given the multifaceted nature of today’s environmental issues, my teaching philosophy centers on equipping students with theories and analytical tools for embracing ecological complexity and knowing nature. Ultimately, my goal is to create an open learning community where students connect fundamental scientific principles and theories with real world ecology and nature outside the classroom walls. Hands-on, student-centered learning and analytical problem solving are the cornerstones of my teaching methods for fostering these connections and transforming the ways in which students understand and engage with the natural world.