Here you will find amazing things like my musings on teaching (biology) and practical recipes for my granny’s pie crust or how to ask a scientific question – and why these three might be related. As I develop new tangible lessons, you’ll find those here, too.

I recently returned from a sabbatical year where I taught science and helped build curriculum at a high school that educates youth experiencing homelessness. I am currently interested in collaborative learning processes, and the transition to first year. Closely related to both of these broad topics (and homelessness), lies the underlying factor of stress. How does stress relate to learning? As a First Year Academic Director, I am honoured to contribute more broadly to our first year transition processes at UBC, including orientations like Jump Start and the year long Collegia programming. How do early relationships contribute to academic success?

My scientific work is around discovery of new species of a small group of marine protists called labyrinthulids and thraustochytrids. (Although microscopic, they are closely related to the giant brown algae). I am interested in the distribution of these organisms and the role they play as decomposers in the marine environment.