Teaching
What drives me, and many of the ecology students I teach, is a desire to understand and contribute to fixing environmental and social problems. My teaching aims to facilitate authentic learning in the context of environmental issues, bridging science practice and academic scholarship with public policy. In doing so I aim to foster students, undergrad and HDR, who develop a scientific practice that is critical, creative, and can engage with both theoretical and applied ecology.
I coordinate 91121 Aquatic Ecosystems. I have experience lecturing and developing units in the areas of ecology and environmental management. I enjoy the challenge of blending a sense of wonder and exploration for the natural world with the practical frameworks and skills required to work in these areas. I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and hold a graduate certificate in higher education studies.
I’ve had the pleasure of supervising several fantastic research students who have investigated food web and water quality issues in estuaries and rivers. Current students I’m working with: Daniela Buttrose (Hons, Primary supervisor), Zoe Bassett (Hons, Primary supervisor), Abigail Scarborough (PHD, Co-supervisor), and Sadia Sharman (PHD, Co-supervisor). If you have an idea for a postgraduate research project, get in touch.
Anove: Teaching in Aquatic Ecosystems. We structure much of the subject around a study on the ecosystem health of the Manly Creek catchment. In the field, we visit sites, including the river, lake, estuary and beach. We learn sampling techniques and collect samples for our practical classes, where we learn analytical and taxonomic techniques. This data is then used to write an ecosystem health report, linking ecological knowledge gained from lectures to their report, which resembles the reporting undertaken by government agencies.
Experiential learning is a central part of all good environmental science or management units. Above: Students in their bush classroom on a week long tour of Gunnedah, NSW, learning about Koala conservation.