Teaching
Nearly all activities of a university professor, from research to advising, mentoring, extension, service and outreach, as well as classroom instruction, require effective teaching skills. At Cornell and further afield, my teaching includes large, often team-taught lecture courses, smaller seminar courses and lab- or field-based workshops. Please see links below to learn more about this full spectrum of teaching activities.
Nearly all activities of a university professor, from research to advising, mentoring, extension, service and outreach, as well as classroom instruction, require effective teaching skills. At Cornell and further afield, my teaching includes large, often team-taught lecture courses, smaller seminar courses and lab- or field-based workshops. Please see links below to learn more about this full spectrum of teaching activities.
Seminar Courses:
Another of my teaching responsibilities is to lead or participate in seminar courses, open to undergraduates and graduate students, depending on the topic.
[Left, PIG seminar team photo, with participants from the Geneva NY campus on Zoom insert, 2011]
Each Friday for the past 15 years, I have led or contributed to a large 1-credit discussion of the Plant-Insect Group (PIG; BioNB / EE / ENT 7640), along with my colleagues in the interdepartmental Chemical Ecology group. This seminar is intended to promote public speaking, critical thinking and focused scholarship for graduate students and keen undergrads with interests in plant-insect (or plant-plant) interactions. We try to alternate between group explorations of published work (jigsaw discussions) and opportunities for students to get feedback on thesis proposals or practice talks for meetings.
Since 2020, I have taught a new graduate seminar, BioNB 7212, on professional development for PhD candidates (post A-exam) in NBB during even-year fall semesters. Our seminar begins with group work on honing cover letters, CVs, elevator pitches and postdoc / job application materials, then shifts to interactions with guest panelists (in person or virtual), many of whom are former NBB students or postdocs who have taken the next steps in their professional lives. One highlight of our most recent course was a virtual visit and discussion with Dr. Ashley Juavinett (UC San Diego), author of "So you want to be a Neuroscientist?", a perfectly timed book for our group of doctoral candidates. My goals are to empower our students to explore their professional options more actively beyond the PhD (including non-academic opportunities) and to prepare them to make the most of those options.
Another of my teaching responsibilities is to lead or participate in seminar courses, open to undergraduates and graduate students, depending on the topic.
[Left, PIG seminar team photo, with participants from the Geneva NY campus on Zoom insert, 2011]
Each Friday for the past 15 years, I have led or contributed to a large 1-credit discussion of the Plant-Insect Group (PIG; BioNB / EE / ENT 7640), along with my colleagues in the interdepartmental Chemical Ecology group. This seminar is intended to promote public speaking, critical thinking and focused scholarship for graduate students and keen undergrads with interests in plant-insect (or plant-plant) interactions. We try to alternate between group explorations of published work (jigsaw discussions) and opportunities for students to get feedback on thesis proposals or practice talks for meetings.
Since 2020, I have taught a new graduate seminar, BioNB 7212, on professional development for PhD candidates (post A-exam) in NBB during even-year fall semesters. Our seminar begins with group work on honing cover letters, CVs, elevator pitches and postdoc / job application materials, then shifts to interactions with guest panelists (in person or virtual), many of whom are former NBB students or postdocs who have taken the next steps in their professional lives. One highlight of our most recent course was a virtual visit and discussion with Dr. Ashley Juavinett (UC San Diego), author of "So you want to be a Neuroscientist?", a perfectly timed book for our group of doctoral candidates. My goals are to empower our students to explore their professional options more actively beyond the PhD (including non-academic opportunities) and to prepare them to make the most of those options.
Short Courses and Workshops:
I have greatly enjoyed teaching in a variety of focused laboratory workshops, field courses and invited short courses around the world, which I list briefly below. Typically, such courses include guest lectures, group projects and brainstorming, student poster sessions and "speed dating" format for elevator pitches, panel discussions and field trips. This has been especially rewarding when the courses were taught bilingually in English and Spanish (*). Please see the section on “Capacity Building” for a more detailed description of our field station-based courses on methods in chemical ecology, including the analysis of plant volatiles.
XXII Curso Bases Biológicas de la Conducta*, Estación Científica La Malinche, Tlaxcala, Mexico, 3-6 Oct. 2017
First Collaborations in Chemical Ecology, NCBS, Bangalore, India, 10-13 Sept. 2016
LANBIO Ecological Chemistry course*, Rio Clarillo, Chile, 10-18 Oct. 2011
PhD course in Insect Chemical Ecology (ICE), Penn State University, June 2010, 2017, 2020-COVID
Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) course in Plant-Animal Interactions*, La Selva, Costa Rica, Jan. 5-19, 2010
Sensory Ecology Course, Lund University, Sweden, Oct. 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2022.
Primera Jornada sobre Polinización*, CIFA La Mojonera, Almería, Spain, March 2005
Ecology/Evolution Field Course*, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, San Juan, April 2002
[Below, LANBIO Rio Clarillo field course, 2011; L-R, Prof. Hermann Niemeyer confers with Carlos Pinto on lesson plan; vials of equilibrated floral scent for use in blinded sniffing assays; team of students manipulating Loasa flowers for pollinator behavioral assays]
I have greatly enjoyed teaching in a variety of focused laboratory workshops, field courses and invited short courses around the world, which I list briefly below. Typically, such courses include guest lectures, group projects and brainstorming, student poster sessions and "speed dating" format for elevator pitches, panel discussions and field trips. This has been especially rewarding when the courses were taught bilingually in English and Spanish (*). Please see the section on “Capacity Building” for a more detailed description of our field station-based courses on methods in chemical ecology, including the analysis of plant volatiles.
XXII Curso Bases Biológicas de la Conducta*, Estación Científica La Malinche, Tlaxcala, Mexico, 3-6 Oct. 2017
First Collaborations in Chemical Ecology, NCBS, Bangalore, India, 10-13 Sept. 2016
LANBIO Ecological Chemistry course*, Rio Clarillo, Chile, 10-18 Oct. 2011
PhD course in Insect Chemical Ecology (ICE), Penn State University, June 2010, 2017, 2020-COVID
Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) course in Plant-Animal Interactions*, La Selva, Costa Rica, Jan. 5-19, 2010
Sensory Ecology Course, Lund University, Sweden, Oct. 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2022.
Primera Jornada sobre Polinización*, CIFA La Mojonera, Almería, Spain, March 2005
Ecology/Evolution Field Course*, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, San Juan, April 2002
[Below, LANBIO Rio Clarillo field course, 2011; L-R, Prof. Hermann Niemeyer confers with Carlos Pinto on lesson plan; vials of equilibrated floral scent for use in blinded sniffing assays; team of students manipulating Loasa flowers for pollinator behavioral assays]