Teaching

Throughout my undergraduate career, I became deeply engaged in teaching across several courses in the Department of Biology at Penn State. While my roles varied by course, each provided a unique opportunity to operate with a high degree of independence from faculty mentors. These experiences shaped my interest in teaching, not only as a way to present new material, but also as a means of inspiring students and cultivating their interest in science and research, particularly among those who may not have previously seen themselves in academic or scientific spaces.

After graduating from Penn State, I have continued to seek out opportunities to strengthen my mentorship skills. Through the Illinois Science and Technology Institute, I was selected as a remote Research Advisor for high school students enrolled in the AP Research course. Each academic year since 2018, I have mentored a cohort of five students as they develop and carry out independent research projects (e.g., topic selection, data collection, thesis writing, and defense presentations). This experience has allowed me to support students in building scientific thinking and research autonomy at an early stage in their academic journeys.

During my graduate training at the University of Rochester, I have served as a teaching assistant for several undergraduate psychology courses. I was the graduate TA for Dr. Jennifer Aube’s Developmental Child Psychopathology course in Fall 2020, Fall 2021, and Fall 2023. I also served as the TA for Dr. Christopher Niemiec’s Human Motivation course in Spring 2021. Across these roles, I supported course instruction through grading, guest lecturing, discussion facilitation, and student mentoring.

In Fall 2024, I am teaching my own undergraduate course on the Psychology of Parenting. I redesigned the course to follow a seminar-style, discussion-based format that incorporates select lecture content but is primarily centered around empirical research articles. The course is designed to immerse students in developmental and family psychology literature and help them build the skills needed to read, interpret, critique, and discuss empirical work. In addition to formal teaching, I have also taken on several student mentorship roles within the lab setting including training research assistants (e.g., in behavioral coding, data collection, and study protocols) and mentoring undergraduates on independent research projects (e.g., honors thesis, Discover Grants, and poster presentations). These experiences have deepened my commitment to fostering student development across both classroom and research settings.

Courses

PSYCH 276 | Psychology of Parenting
Adjunct Professor | Fall 2024
The University of Rochester| Department of Psychology

PSYCH 262 | Human Motivation
Graduate Teaching Assistant | Spring 2021
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Christopher Neimic
The University of Rochester| Department of Psychology

PSYCH 289 | Developmental Child Psychopathology
Graduate Teaching Assistant | Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2023
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Aube
The University of Rochester| Department of Psychology

The learning for this course is primarily asynchronous, where students are assigned to watch pre-recorded lectures and complete assigned readings. The class of over 120 students is divided among 2 TAs and on days that students would have anticipated meeting, groups of 20 meet with their assigned TA to complete application prompts, such as specific case studies related to the content for that week.

BIOL 230W | Molecules and Cells
Primary Laboratory Teaching Assistant | Fall 2017, Spring 2018
Faculty Supervisors: Dr. Jennelle Malcos (Fall 2017), Dr. Matthew Endres (Spring 2018)
The Pennsylvania State University | Department of Biology

Each semester, I was responsible for co-teaching a weekly 3-hour lab section of about 25 students. During the lab block, students were guided through hands-on applications of genomics and cellular biology including techniques such as PCR and gel electrophoresis interpretation.

BIOL 120A | Plants, Places, and People
Teaching Assistant | Spring 2017, Spring 2018
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Glenna Malcolm
The Pennsylvania State University | Department of Biology

The breadth of this course introduced to non-science majors the widespread use of various plants and their histories such as chocolate, sugar, and cotton. Students were also guided through how to interpret peer reviewed sources, how to write scientifically, and how to implement in-text citations. My primary role was in evaluating student work and developing exam material.

BIOL 110S | Basic Concepts and Biodiversity Freshman Research Initiative
Research Supervisor | Fall 2016
Faculty Supervisors: Dr. Kim Nelson and Dr. Glenna Malcolm
The Pennsylvania State University | Department of Biology

This unique experience is rooted in Penn State’s introductory biology course, where freshman are able to opt to complete a research intensive lab versus the typical structured course lab work. During my 2nd year at Penn State, I was selected as a supervisor for the incoming class. My primary responsibilities included mentoring students in implementing the scientific method to a small scale, independent research project of his/her own– accumulating in a final end of semester presentation of his/her work.