Here is the perfect cure for insomnia!
The Formative Years
I was born in Corpus Christi, TX and after a couple of moves we ended up in Rosenberg, (near Houston) where I attended grade school. I was interested in biology from an early age; I watched Marlin Perkins and Jacque Cousteau (your parents should know who they are) and I spent a lot of time outdoors on family camping and fishing trips. Even though I grew up near Houston during the Apollo years, I always thought that it would be much cooler to be a biologist than an astronaut.
When I was in the sixth grade my family moved to Australia for four years. This was an amazing life change for a kid who thought that the annual trip to my grandparents’ house in Oklahoma was a big deal. I had the incomparable experience of living in another country and experiencing a whole new way of life. Probably the biggest difference between Australia and the U.S. was the schools. I went to an all-boys English-style, private school where we had to wear uniforms (suits and ties) and straw boater hats to class everyday (this probably explains my preferred style of dress today).
The move also provided me with the opportunity to travel the world. During trips through Europe and Asia we saw many places of historical and cultural interest. Among my favorites were the Coliseum in Rome, the Tower of London, and Mt. Fuji in Japan. More importantly, my travels exposed me to many new biological experiences including seeing hippos, gazelles, elephants, and a cheetah in South Africa, snorkeling and beachcombing in Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, and the Great Barrier Reef, chasing emus through the Australian outback, watching a male lyrebird do his mating dance, watching fairy penguins come ashore for the night off of the coast of southern Australia, and many sightings of other Australian wildlife including kangaroos and koalas (how many people do you know that have ever seen a koala running along the ground?).
During the summer before my sophomore year in high school we moved to Thousand Oaks, CA (old-timers will remember TO as the former summer home of the Dallas Cowboys before they were ruined by Jerry Jones) where I graduated from high school. During my senior year I spent a week studying ecology and philosophy in Yosemite National Park and this trip confirmed by desire to be a biologist.
Education
I enrolled at the University of California, Santa Barbara to study biology. UCSB is an incredible place to go to school (I could see the ocean from my bedroom window three out of the four years that I was there) and it also happened to have one of the best ecology programs in the world. Joe Connell (one of the most influential ecologist of our era) taught the ecology section of my intro biology course and also taught my first ecology course, so it is probably his fault that I am here today because after finishing his course I knew that I wanted to be an ecologist. Later, after taking courses from Steve Rothstein and Bob Warner, I became interested in behavioral and evolutionary ecology and I decided to go to grad school to study behavioral ecology. I went to Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS which was a pretty big change from UCSB. I enjoyed K-State (I learned to bleed purple for Wildcat basketball) and I was lucky to be able to spend summers working for my advisor Chris Smith at the Mountain Research Station in Colorado studying pollination in lodgepole pine. My Masters Thesis extended optimal foraging models to examine woodrats foraging for non-food items (sticks that they use to build their houses). I also did a theoretical study examining how food stress should affect sex ratios. I earned a Ph. D. at the University in Salt Lake City. For my Ph. D. thesis with Jon Seger, I developed models and conducted experiments to understand the causes of seed size variation in plants. During my little free time, I played volleyball with the U of U Volleyball Club team and I was probably the only person in the whole city who did not ski (I still don’t see the point of intentionally getting cold). I spent two years working as a post-doctoral researcher with Dave Tilman at the University of Minnesota. Our research focused on succession in old fields at Cedar Creek Natural History Area just north of Minneapolis.
Life at Texas Tech
I started as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University in 1991. I am currently an Associate Professor with a joint position in the Honors College and the Department of Biological Sciences. In the Honors College I work closely with the Environment and the Humanities degree. (http://www.depts.ttu.edu/honors/evhm/)
Teaching
I teach a wide variety of classes at Tech. Two of my favorite courses are Tropical Marine Biology (taught in Jamaica and Belize) and the Rio Grande Class (we take a week-long canoe trip through Big Bend over Spring Break). For the past 6 summers I have worked as a scuba instructor and marine biologist with Odyssey Expeditions leading sailing and scuba trips through the Caribbean (British Virgin Islands, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines).
Scholarship
For several years I conducted ecological research in the sand shinnery oak community in West Texas. My current interests are in science curriculum development, environmental education, and informatl science education. I serve as a member of the Stewardship Committee of the Environmental Information Coalition and as an Associate Editor for the Encyclopedia of the Earth (http://www.eoearth.org/). In the Malaysian Bat Education Adventure we are using the ecology of Malaysian Bats as the focus of an integrated science curriculum for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade.
Fulbright in Malaysia
I spent the 2010-2011 academic year as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In addition to teaching a class at the UM, I was able to travel throughout the Malaysia and other parts of SE Asia (Thailand and Cambodia). In enjoyed exploring the rainforests and islands of Malaysia. Some of the coolest things I saw were a sea turtle laying eggs, Orangutans, and a Borneo Pygmy Elephant. To learn more about my adventures in Malaysia you can check out my blog. http://markinmalaysia.blogspot.com/
Traveling
I enjoy traveling and I have been able to explore my passion for scuba diving on dive trips in Texas (San Solomon Springs in Balmorhea and the Flower Garden Banks) throughout the Caribbean as well as Yap, Palau, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Galapagos Islands. My favorite marine critters include hammerhead sharks, pygmy sea horses, and “the pea”. On Monday I returned from a trip in SE Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand).
Hi! My name is Charity Embley. My undergraduate degree is in Biology. I am with the MS Multidisciplinary Science program, with a minor in Developmental Literacy, as full-time grad student. I was a Science high school teacher and worked as Science faculty and department head for a charter school in Lubbock for 3 years (until I changed careers). My husband and I used to live in Virginia and we moved to Lubbock last 2009.
ReplyDeleteI currently work at the Texas Tech University Student Disability Services. I do drop-in tutoring for college students with learning disabilities who are struggling in their Science and Math courses. I also teach Computer Skills for Goodwill Industries of Northwest Texas Inc on a joint program with South Plains College Workforce Development. I am also one of the Science Teacher Mentor of ESC Region 17 and has been with the program since 2010.
I did a lot of mountain climbing and trekking in my undergraduate Biology courses in the Philippines. One of the things I studied in my Ecology class was to work on the behavior of monkeys in a remote mountain area in one of the islands in the South of the Philippines. Those monkeys were coming down on the villages because they were losing their habitat, and they were exhibiting unusual behavior in hunting for food.
That's it for me. I was wondering if your trips to Southeast Asia were part of your research? I have been to most of the countries in SEA. Thanks!
Hello, my name is Lauren Eveland. I am a graduate student at TTU working on my MS in Biology. Originally I'm from a small town in Illinois about thirty minutes away from St. Louis, MO. Lubbock is quite different form IL, but I'm starting to adjust to it.
ReplyDeleteAs an undergraduate I worked with invasive plants and how they affect natural plant populations and communities. After graduating I worked as a Technician at a Research Center affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis. Working with graduate students and Post Docs made me realize that I wanted to further my education in Biology. I wanted the opportunity to design my own research projects. Currently, I am working in a lab that in based on Community Ecology and the behavior of amphibians in their community. There are many different projects being conducted in the lab, but that is a very brief overview.
In addition to being a student I also TA for a lab each semester. Before I taught my first lab I actually dreaded the idea of ever having to teach, but now I really enjoy it. Now I am considering the idea of upper level teaching in biology.
Growing up I was always interested in science and in particular working with animals. One of my most memorable opportunities was working as an extern at the St. Louis Zoo Herpeterium. It was an amazing experience to handle and learn the husbandry of many endangered reptiles and amphibians.
I really look forward to this class!
My name is Krista Holter. I teach chemistry at a preK - 12 all girls Catholic school in Houston. I have never been to Lubbock.
ReplyDeleteI earned my BS in biological and physical sciences at the University of Houston. That essentially means that I majored in biology and minored in chemistry. Becoming a teacher happened a little by accident. My plan was to go to medical school. I worked full time and went to school full time while working towards my BS. I wanted a break, so I decided to teach for a year. I never left.
I am married with a five year old son. I also help my parents with the things they just can not do anymore now that they are older. So, I tend to plan things out VERY far in advance.
I can't believe you have never been to Lubbock! What a sheltered life you have lead.
DeleteAbout Me
ReplyDeleteI was born in Lubbock and lived a large portion of my life there. In elementary school I developed an intense interest in both science and travel. I started collecting rocks because of my 5th grade teacher. After graduating from Monterey High School I attended Tech where I graduated with a B.S in Chemical Engineering in 1976. I worked for a couple of years for Monsanto as a process engineer near New Orleans. My goal, however, had been to work in business. I remember, as a senior at Tech, the chairman of the Ch.E engineering department called me into his office and asked me if I had ever considered a career in sales. Since he also taught me thermodynamics, I figured this might be a comment on my ability to do thermodynamics. So, in 1978, I moved to Dallas and began a career selling industrial control systems and software to refineries, chemical plants, water and waste plants, and other processing plants. Four years later, I left that employer and opened a company with a business partner, which we owned and operated for 20 years. After selling that company, I took a year off and learned to sail in the British Virgin Islands-something I wanted to do for years, but was too busy working and raising children.
It was about time to go back to work. I didn’t want to work for a large corporation. After weighing the options I felt that teaching might be a good opportunity offering time off to travel and sail, relative job security, and teacher retirement, but not much pay. After quickly completing an alternative certification program I began teaching Chemistry and Physics in Plano. I also taught a couple of years of Physics and Algebra at the Episcopal School of Dallas. I currently teach Chemistry as well as Earth and Space Science at Highland Park High School in Dallas. Overall, teaching has turned out to be a good decision as it is very much like working for myself. I am almost completely unsupervised and pretty my own boss.
Family
I am married and have three children and three grandchildren. Our oldest son graduated from Rice University and is a Lt. Commander in the Navy. He has been selected to serve as the Executive Officer on his submarine on his next tour of duty. He and his wife live outside of Washington D.C. Our daughter graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and currently works as Global Marketing Manager for an oil services firm that builds oil-drilling rigs. She and her husband live in Houston. Our youngest son graduated from Wheaton College in Chicago is a 1st Lt. in the Air Force. He recently returned from Afghanistan having served as an intelligence officer. He and his wife currently live in Augusta, GA, but will be moving to Texas next year where he has been accepted to the graduate business school at the University of Texas.
Sailing and Travel
I love travel and adventure, as I need a regular adrenaline rush. In my business career I was fortunate in that had an opportunity to travel extensively. I have traveled to 49 of the 50 states, but I have yet to make it Minnesota. I have also made it to 31 other countries.
I began sailing about 12 years and really enjoy it. I have sailed to Catalina Island off the southern California coast a couple of times, over to the Bahamas, and extensively in the Chesapeake Bay and Florida. I have also chartered boats in Turkey and Greece. I have a boat partner and he and I are currently in the process of sailing our boat, the Emily Morgan, to Australia. We began our journey in Virginia and last year sailed to the boat to Guatemala. At Christmas, we sailed from Guatemala to the island of Roatan, Honduras where we are currently. At spring break we will be sailing to the island of San Andreas, Columbia (off the coast of Nicaragua). We plan on arriving in Panama sometime this summer, hanging our there for about a year, before leaving for the South Pacific.
Hello my name is Roxanne Davis.I teach biology at Dumas High School in Dumas Tx. I graduated from Wayland Baptist University in Plainveiw Tx with my BS, double major of biology and all level physical education. I am pursuing my masters due to Lola Henning at Region 16 telling me what a awesome program it is a Texas Tech.
ReplyDeleteHello All! I'm Lindsay (Simmons) Faircloth. I teach chemistry at Dumas HS with Roxie and Chris. I graduated from West Texas A&M. I wanted to get my masters in science but wasn't particularly fond of doing research. Then I found out about the MSCI program, which I think is a great combo of all the sciences. I have loved getting to know everyone in the program, and have enjoyed the different views of their teaching styles. I am married to my "man child" Darrell and have a 9 month old son Wilson.
ReplyDeleteI am Chris Davis and I teach Biology in Dumas. I farmed after I graduated from high school, in 1997, until I decided to go to college in 2005. I graduated from Texas Tech in 2007 and then attended Texas Tech School of Medicine until 2009. I have taught for the past 2 years, prior to that I was a project manager for Irwin Steel Erectors in Dallas, Texas.
ReplyDelete