I have been a Professor of Environmental Education and TREE Semester Program Director since 2014, which has allowed me to pursue my passion for a better understanding of adult development. As Environmental Science Program Director (2000-2007), faculty member (2007-2013), and a bioanalytical chemist (1992-1999) at Colorado College, I pursued interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary curricular approaches for teaching field-based and lab-based constructivist-motivated and experiential methods in the natural sciences. I especially enjoy helping others to construct large-scale curriculum reform projects such as the biochemistry program, environmental science program, and the TREE Semester. My current research interests include program evaluation, pre-service teacher education, and adult learning and development.

As a clinical psychologist and behavioral scientist, I teach courses largely about mental illness and brain injury – excruciatingly interesting topics of great personal import to students. My goals are to simultaneously expose students to the current paradigms in these fields from neuroscience and social science, to infuse how culture is embedded in our understanding of these phenomena around the world, while having us all wrestle with the consequences of a society’s treatment of neurodiversity. Throughout, my instructional style could be described as scaffolding a “discussion pendulum,” as we both value and deconstruct the medical (and sports) fields, marveling more about what is not yet known than the enormity of what we think we know. My greatest weakness in the classroom is fully releasing control of a class to guide itself (working on it!), but my strengths lie in “reading the room” about how a particular group might need material to be structured and approached.

I am a Visiting Assistant Professor in Organismal Biology and Ecology and teach courses in ecology, introductory organismal biology, and animal behavior and physiology. I approach my research and teaching with an understanding of my positionality and acknowledgment of the privilege it is to co-construct knowledge with students. Students are active participants in my field and lab courses as demonstrated in their design of rubrics, assessments, and discussions. In doing so, students are helping to direct their own learning and practicing higher-level critical thinking skills that are applicable in and out of the classroom. I challenge my students to be comfortable in the uncomfortable while simultaneously encouraging and supporting them in the process. I believe that all students are capable of meeting high expectations if provided with a student-centered, inclusive, and asset-based environment that values all perspectives. Ultimately, I strive to help students to develop and refine their skills (e.g., analytical, communication, creativity) in all my classes, thereby empowering them to confidently direct their future at CC and beyond.

As an assistant professor in the Department of Physics, I teach courses across the physics curriculum, from our introductory sequence for the physical sciences up to our senior capstone experience. I strive to create a dynamic, active classroom built on a foundation of a community of care that lives alongside rigorous expectations. My class sizes can be as large as 32, so I often experiment with ways to carry out a formative assessment during class sessions so we can adjust as necessary to meet our learning goals. Recently, I am exploring ways to dismantle historical patterns of white supremacy in physics teaching through the intentional incorporation of creativity exercises within the introductory physics curriculum. In doing so, students are invited to bring their whole selves with them into the classroom, increasing their sense of belongingness and challenging dominant views of what a scientist or physicist is “supposed” to be.

As an Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, I teach a wide variety of courses from our introductory lecture and lab courses to upper-division courses in my specialties: Immunology and Cancer Biology. In all my courses, I aim to for students to learn how to think experimentally, communicate effectively, engage independently, and observe critically. I also have a strong emphasis on a growth mindset and learning from (perceived) failure, which I try my best to model as I continually work on my pedagogy in response to student feedback and reflection.

Scott’s areas of teaching and research concern psychoanalytic theory, film theory, popular culture, and political media.

I am an educator and a scientist. I approach teaching and learning using a social constructivist+behaviorist ideology, where the student’s knowledge and background center the learning experience. As an educator, I construct my courses and each day centered on an essential question, driven in part by "what needs to be learned?", "why is the concept/content important?", and "where are the students in the process?". As a scientist, I ask what data needs to be learned (and not just numbers!) and what processes are necessary to understand the data story. My results are courses that evolve with the students, each block different from the last. I constantly push my own boundaries of knowledge with my students, which provides, often a humbling experience. My challenge, naturally, is to maintain goals and expectations and empower the students to take ownership in meeting these goals and expectations. I am passionate about what our students bring to our classes.

As an art historian and professor in the Art department, I teach broadly in the history of art and museum studies. I believe in the transformative potential of student engagement with the process of learning, and the power of active approaches to developing motivation, fostering inquiry, and enhancing critical perspectives. In my classes, students engage with the arts as both formative and reflective of culture, as a means to understand history, and as a vehicle to answer the questions that matter to our society. My teaching encompasses problem-based learning, inquiry-driven approaches, peer-to-peer strategies, and a discursive approach to lecturing and discussion. I consider myself a learner alongside my students, as trying new ideas, approaches, and systems helps me continually hone and refine my teaching.

I am an associate professor of organic chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry where I have been teaching courses in organic chemistry since 2011. I am interested in thinking about how to teach content-heavy STEM courses in inclusive and engaging ways, especially on the block plan. As an organic chemist, my research interests are in the area of organofluorine chemistry. I work on developing new reactions to introduce fluorine and fluorinated groups to small organic molecules of biological interest using microwave technology.