I have taught students in the classroom as well as mentored them in the laboratory. I am continuing to learn new teaching techniques and am focused on methods of active learning to engage students from a variety of diverse backgrounds and implenting different styles of presentation to help students utilize their best learning practices in understanding the material. I equally enjoy teaching in the classroom and mentoring students in the lab.
ME 3800: Numerical Methods for Engineers II Spring 2025
Advanced undergraduate course, class size 30.
Applied Numerical Methods for Engineers with computer applications.
Guest lecturer at Cal State LA
Kinesiology 4370: Disease and Plasticity in Neuromuscular Systems Fall 2024
Advanced undergraduate course, class size 30
CE 1900: Introduction to AutoCAD for Civil Engineers Fall 2024
Required lab course for civil engineering undergraduates 2 sections, approx. 25 students each
Lecture 1: Application of CAD design software to biology
Lecture 2: Comparison of AutoCAD, Fusio360, and Solidworks software suites for CAD design applications
Instructor: Assisted in mastery-based learning lab course, assisted students with translating paper designs into CAD designs
ME 5800: Advanced Numerical Methods Fall 2022
Graduate course, class size 15
Lecture: PCA and applications of clustering analysis in biology
Instructor for TCNJ Course, Princeton Prison Teaching Initiative 2010-11
MAT095: Intermediate Algebra
Instructor for the class which included preparing and giving lectures with in class problem solving individually and in groups,
preparing and grading homeworks and exams. I led classes at two different women’s correctional facilities. Class comprised adult
women across a 20 year age span, some with months left and others with 15+ years remaining in their time in the facility.
Course Instructor at Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 2003-04
Zebrafish Development and Genetics Lecture and lab course, 20 students
Special topics workshop to prepare researchers new to working with zebrafish as an animal model. students
Summer course for preparing researchers to work with larval zebrafish. I taught students how to handle and immobilize zebrafish,
how to inject DNA into single cell stage embryos, and how to image fluorescent-expressing zebrafish on a confocal microscope.
Teaching Assistant at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 2003
Phy121: Light, Color, and Vision. Lecture course, 14 students
Introductory physics class focused on simple concepts of optics and photons. Led problem solving focused office hours and designed
homework and contributed to exam questions.
Recitation Instructor at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 2002
Mat123: Precalculus/Calculus. Led problem solving recitation section for 30 students. Led students in group problem solving with presentations.
Training
ECST T&L&PD Academies Teacher training workshops Fall 2024
(Engineering Computer Science and Technology) Teaching and Learning and Professional Development Academy
Participated in workshop series focused on teaching methods. Topics included strategies for engaging students,
leveraging cultural wealth, and using check-ins.
CTLO Faculty Course Design Workshops
TYRIT Workshop series focused on presenting your research as course material Fall 2024
5Ps Workshop series focused on preparing for future role of teaching as faculty Fall 2024
Mentoring
Marina Lecoeuche, Graduate student at Caltech (2023-24)
During her rotation, I taught Marina how to handle adult fish and design a setup to record videos of adult fish during sleep. I helped design analysis software so that we could analyze microbehaviors of adult fish sleep. After she joined our lab, I designed a speaker/microphone setup for testing arousal threshold during sleep in larval zebrafish and taught Marina how to use it and analyze data. Marina joined the lab and this work is still in progress. Marina passed her qualifying exam.
Daniel Pollak, Graduate student Caltech (2022)
During his rotation, I taught Daniel how to build a setup for imaging fish to study balance during sleep. He performed pilot analysis using DLC (DeepLabCut). I helped Daniel design an electrophysiology setup to record from neurons on the surface of the larval zebrafish brain. Daniel is continuing his PhD work with Markus Meister at Caltech. We are currently designing a course to teach animal tracking and behavioral analysis software packages (DLC and SLEAP).
Andrew Hill, Graduate student at Caltech (2018-22)
I taught Andrew how to perform different types of data analysis and visualizations in Matlab. We designed new behavioral assays to test changes in visual responses during sleep in larval zebrafish and designed new visualizations and analysis for these assays.
Andrew completed his PhD with David Prober and the work is being prepared for publication. Andrew is now a postdoc in the lab of Yvette Fisher at University of Berkeley.
Hannah Hurley, Research technician at Caltech (2017-18)
I taught Hannah how to design 3d prints using Fusion 360 (Autodesk) and how to 3d print fish chambers and test them for behavior monitoring of restrained zebrafish during water flow. Hannah pursued a law degree with a focus on patent law at Emory University. She practices law at McDermott Will and Emery in San Francisco.
Maria Jantz, Research technician at Northwestern University (2015-17)
I taught Maria how to use retroreflective markings to record behavior and we implanted fine wires to record muscle activity to measure kinematics. This was coupled with recordings of electrode arrays I implanted in rat motor cortex and used to build decoders for brain machine interface applications. Maria presented the work at SFN, and it was published (J Neural Eng, 2019). Maria completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at University of Pittsburgh and is now a Postdoc in Warren Grill’s lab at Duke University.
Cristina Domnisoru, Graduate student at Princeton University (2011-13)
I taught Cristina how to extracellularly record from and identify grid cells in awake, behaving mice. She then performed the first in vivo whole cell patch recordings of grid cells and helped design new criteria for identifying grid cells recorded during navigation along virtual hallways. Our collaboration was published (Nature, 2013). Cristina continued with mouse work as a postdoc in Naoshige Uchida’s lab at Harvard.
India Reddy, Undergraduate student at Cornell University (2007-09)
Mentored a project for tracking changes in synaptic volumes during sleep in zebrafish. She learned how to work with fish, image with a confocal microscope and use Imaris software for image analysis.
India presented her research at the university and is now Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University.