I have taught 100-level through 600-level classes, ranging from a large, freshman introductory class (FW 104 – Introduction to Wildlife Fundamentals), to an undergraduate capstone course (FW 471 – Wildlife Data Collection and Analysis), to graduate-level classes on sampling design (FW 552 – Sampling Designs for Wildlife an Fish Studies) and data analysis (FW 663 – Vertebrate Population Analysis). I am currently focused on developing and delivering high impact, experiential courses as such courses lead to increased achievement of learning outcomes. Thus I am actively involved in:
- FW 111 – Outdoor skills in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. This elective course addresses the need that many of our students do not have such outdoor skills and their desire to gain them.
- NR 220 – Natural Resource Ecology and Measurements. This is a required course for most of the majors in my college and is a 4-week summer residential course taught at the CSU Mountain Campus. The course is interdisciplinary with students from different disciplines living and learning together in a field setting. Four sessions of the course are offered during the summer and serves ~275 students. I am the Director of the course in charge of organizing and coordinating all aspects of the course, as well as teaching wildlife conservation material. Here is a short video about the course.
- FW 375 – Wildlife Field Studies. This course is targeted at junior and senior Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology majors and we visit and work with federal, state, and private natural resource managers.
- FW 373a – Travel Aboard: Wildlife Conservation in Baja, CS, Mexico. This class is an education abroad experience in which we learn about wildlife and conservation of the Baja, CS region during the fall semester and then take a 2-week trip over winter break to the CSU Todos Santos Center in Todos Santos, Baja, CS. We have field experiences with sea turtles, whale sharks, sea lions and with the conservation and management of desert, island, peninsular systems – all of which are different from what we experience in Colorado. This course also is taught as part of a 10-week, 16-credit semester abroad program at the Todos Santos Center.
- As part of the Semester at Sea Fall 2017 voyage, I taught an honors seminar (HONR 293 – Ways of Knowing: Wildlife Conservation Around the World, Ecology (LIFE 320) and Biodiversity (NR 300).
- I was the Academic Dean for the Semester at Sea Fall 2019 voyage and also taught FW 304 – Conservation of Marine Megafauna.
I also teach numerous workshops around the world on demographic data analysis (e.g., mark-recapture techniques, distance sampling, occupancy, sampling design) and I have been recognized for my teaching with awards from The Institute for Teaching and Learning at CSU, the Harry Troxel Award for Service to Students, and as a Global Teaching Scholar.