research overview
- My research focuses on two areas of inquiry: effective practices in biology education and community ecology, with a focus on ecosystem services, in urban-suburban landscapes. Undergraduate students are partners in the ecological component of my research program. Currently, I am working on two biology education research projects with collaborators. One research project investigates whether the incorporation of social justice issues affects students' learning about antibiotic resistance. This research is being conducted with students enrolled in a project-based introductory biology course that is focused on the biology of social issues. The lead on this project is PhD candidate Kyle Schutz, and we are currently on our second semester of data collection for this project. The second project is a continuation of the work I started as a Co-PI on an NSF IUSE grant called 'A Power of Place Learning Experience & Research Network to Support Community College Student Success and Civic Engagement.' This work with our research group, called Apple R Net, is focused on the development and dissemination of a place-based curriculum on the ecology of apple trees, which is formatted as a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) for first- and second- year biology courses. We are currently preparing manuscripts for publication based on the work we completed during the active grant. I am a faculty lead on a project called, 'Restoring Soil Health and Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists Through Sustainable Regenerative Approaches in Orchards,' and funded from the Kristina and William Catto Foundation, Inc. This research investigates the effect of land management and apple tree age on soil ecology, including microbial community composition. I trained and am supervising 4 undergraduate student researchers as a part of this work.
