Teaching Approach I have always sought to integrate a conceptual component of lecturing with its applicability to the real world. I believe that excellence in science instruction should involve students beyond the passive learning environment that has become commonplace in the United States.  Namely, I believe that teaching should reach and occupy the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic faculties. The lecture hall should be a place where I seek to foster curiosity in students.  Not only is the lectern where material is presented and discussed, but also it is where I convey personal scholarship and research experiences for illustration. The World as the Context for Learning At home or abroad, the laboratory and field aspect of any course becomes the interface between the conceptual and the experiential.  I aspire to infuse students with an ambition and a passion for knowing and understanding the natural world.  I have found that professionals who have discovered their niche in the biological sciences had given an opportunity to work directly in research projects.  I hope that my research interests both in the United States and in Central America would stimulate enthusiasm in students wishing to participate.  See my research page.

Educational Philosophy
Education should be a lifelong endeavor built upon sound epistemology, philosophy, and theology.  In my view, the best way to establish a sound framework for students is to model my academic passions as a biology professor.  As a scientist, I believe that the path to knowledge begins with inquiry.  During my tenure as a graduate fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, I discovered that the researchers who were most productive and professionally satisfied were those who dared to inquire of nature.  Likewise, I have noticed the same tendency in professionals in theology (and philosophy).
      Two chief goals predominate my professional life: 1) to reveal the magnificence of Creation through the mechanisms of ecology, selection, and adaptation; and 2) to challenge university students to consider a life of intentional and examined faith .  Education in the liberal arts tradition employs a mosaic of perspectives to inquiry and problem solving.  The coupling of a liberal arts instructional style with a Christian world-view is an integrative means to achieving the above goals.  As an ecologist and conservationist, I teach college students in all disciplines to reflect upon how their lives impact and interact with the natural world.  The Socratic maxim, "the unexamined life is not worth living," defines the direction of my teaching philosophy.  From this, I strive to make every effort as a professor to encourage students to become introspective by examining their lives, their faith, and their world.  It is my hope that students will develop a greater sense of meaning and fulfillment in life. 

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