Teaching Philosophy

The challenges we will face as a society in the next few decades require interdisciplinary solutions. My goal is to provide students with the fundamental knowledge and tools they will need to become an informed member of these integrated teams, able to develop their own innovative solutions to the most pressing problems of our time, including climate change and sustainability.  

Teaching Experience

Instructor (McGill University):
  • Invertebrate Paleontology (EPSC 334) with optional 10 day field trip to Portugal and Spain
​Guest Lectures (University of Toronto):
  • Redox Geochemistry for Sedimentary Environments (Geochemistry 2020, 2022)
  • EDI Considerations in Research (Intro to Research (Thesis) 2021)
  • Digital Field Tools in Earth Science Pedagogy Study Intro (Basin Analysis 2021)
  • Virtual Field Trips in Google Earth: Nama Basin (Basin Analysis 2021)
  • Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins & Field work (Sedimentology 2016-2018)
Teaching Assistant (University of Toronto):
  • Planet Earth (2016-2022)
  • Basin Analysis (2021)
  • Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology (2021)
  • Geochemistry (2020)
  • Earth Materials (2020)
  • Field Camp (2019)
  • Sedimentology (2016-2018)
​Field Trip Leader
  • Outer Banks: organized and led a field trip for graduate students (University of Toronto). I developed a risk assessment protocol, hosted safety sessions to discuss mitigating risks, and co-wrote the field guide
  • Niagara Gorge and Rock Point Provincial Park (University of Toronto Mississauga & McMaster University) undergraduates, geology club
  • Newfoundland (International Sedimentological Congress): Sedimentology and Paleontology of the oldest Ediacaran communities​​

DIGITAL FIELD TOOLS

I was awarded a teaching fellowship to create experiential learning opportunities for students that are more accessible and cost effective to supplement field courses. I designed 4 labs for a basin analysis course that utilize digital field tools including 3D virtual rocks and fossils, virtual core, and Google Earth. The labs target overlapping learning objectives to interpret basin evolution and build towards a final project where students create a virtual field trip to describe the evolution and resource potential of a basin. The combined use of Google Earth, virtual core, and fossils can help students develop critical skills including rock identification, stratigraphic logging, and mapping. In addition, I am conducting a pedagogical study to understand student’s perspectives on the effectiveness of digital field tools.