TEACHING AND MENTORING
East Carolina University Courses (Greenville, NC) (n=21 sections):
2017, 2019, 2023, 2025: Conservation Biology, BIOL 4920 (undergraduate majors lecture course: 4 sections).
2019, 2025: Invasion Biology, BIOL 6850 (graduate seminar course: 2 sections)
2015-2018, 2020-2021, 2023-2025: Environmental Biology, BIOL 1060 (non-majors undergraduate course: 9 sections)
2018, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025: Aquatic Parasitology & Disease, BIOL 4450/4451, BIOL 6220/6994 (cross listed undergrad/grad course w/ lab: 5 sections)
2022: Conservation Biology, BIOL 7920 (graduate lecture course: 1 section)
Shoals Marine Laboratory Courses (Appledore Island, ME) (n=9 sections):
2018-2019, 2021-2025: Marine Parasitology & Disease, BIOSM 3330 (Cornell) / MEFB 506 (UNH) (undergrad field course: 7 sections)
2022-2023: Marine Invasive Species, BIOSM 3340 (Cornell) / MEFB 720 (UNH) (undergrad field course: 2 sections)
Miami University Courses (Oxford, OH) (n=13 sections):
2024: Belize II: Fall Inquiry & Action, BIO 675 (graduate level web course: 1 section)
2024: Belize II: Approaches to Environmental Stewardship, BIO 645B (graduate level field / web course: 1 section)
2010-2011, 2022, 2024, 2025: Issues in Evolution, BIO 634 (graduate level web course: 5 sections)
2016, 2017: Baja: Field Methods, BIO/IES644 (graduate level field course: 2 sections)
Long Island University Courses (Brookville, NY) (n=24 sections):
2013, 2015: Marine Ecology, BIO 609 (graduate level lecture course: 2 sections)
2013-2015: Foundations in Biology II, BIO2 (non-majors undergraduate lecture & lab: 5 sections)
2011-2014: Ecology, BIO 109 (majors undergraduate lecture & lab: 4 sections)
2012-2015: General Biology II, BIO 104 (majors undergraduate lab: 8 sections)
2011-2014: Foundations in Biology I, BIO1 (non-majors undergraduate lab: 5 sections)
2011, 2024: Belize I: Forest & Marine Ecology (graduate level field / web course: 1 section)
2010-2011: Issues in Biodiversity (graduate level web course: 3 sections)
ADVISING/MENTORING
Current ECU Graduate Students (3 PhD and 3 MS students)
2025-present Amelia Magee, M.S. student (primary advisor, co-advised with Jim Morley).
2024-present Meghan Nadzam, M.S. student. Meghan was awarded an ECU WRC Water Scholars Award (2024).
2024-present Terry Papavasilis, Ph.D. student (secondary advisor, co-advised with Rebecca Asch). Terry was
awarded an ECU WRC Water Scholars Award (2025) and was selected for a Lionfish response traineeship program.
2023-present Garrett Maggio, Ph.D. student. Garrett has received the following awards: ECU Water Resources
Center Water Scholars Award (2023), the Jeannie Morris Graduate Fellowship for Coastal Conservation and Research (2023, 2024) – the inaugural year of the award and a second year, includes a $20,000 stipend; and a student award from the Diamond-backed Terrapin Working Group (2024). Garrett was also selected for an NSF National Research Traineeship fellowship at ECU for 2024-2025.
2023-present Mic Schulte, M.S. student. Mic received a competitive North Carolina Sea Grant / Water Resources
Research Center graduate fellowship (2025-2026) with a $10,000 stipend, an ECU Water Resources Center Water Scholars Award (2024) and a Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2024).
2022-present Carter Stancil, Ph.D. candidate (primary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Michael Brewer). Carter has
received the following awards: Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research (2024), Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2023), and notably Carter received a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) in 2023 under my guidance. This fellowship provides 3 years of graduate stipend and tuition support. https://biology.ecu.edu/stancil_nsf_grfp/ . Carter was also selected for an NSF National Research Traineeship fellowship at ECU for 2025-2026.
Former ECU & LIU Graduate Students (2 PhD and 10 M.S. students)
2023-2025 Grace Loonam, M.S. student, ECU (primary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Rachel Gittman). Grace
received the following awards: Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2023), ECU Water Resources Center Water Scholars Award (2023), and the NC Coastal Reserve – NC Sea Grant: 2024 Coastal Research Fellowship competition ($10,000 award).
2022-2024 Chloe Gabriel, M.S., ECU (primary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Jim Morley). Chloe is now a Research
Assistant in my lab. Chloe received the following awards: Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2023), ECU Water Resources Center Water Scholars Award (2023), Southern Shrimp Alliance scholarship (2022). Chloe was hired as a Research Technician from 2024-2025.
2021-2023 Haley Hagemeier, M.S., ECU. Haley received the following award as a MS student: ECU Water Resources Center Water Scholars Award (2022).
2017-2023 Timothy Lee, Ph.D., ECU. As a PhD student, Tim received the following awards: Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2021), North Carolina Wildlife Federation scholarship (2021), Crustacean Society graduate fellowship (2021).
2020-2022 Laura Lucas, M.S., ECU.
2020-2022 Nina Woodard, M.S., ECU. (secondary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Rachel Gittman).
2016-2022 Christopher Moore, Ph.D., ECU. Chris was awarded ECU’s prestigious Life Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2023; this is only awarded to one doctoral dissertation in the life sciences per year. As a PhD student, Chris
received over $40,000 in grant and fellowship support during his PhD, which included the following awards: Golden Key Research Grant - Golden Key International Academic Honor Society (2019), Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology GIAR (2019), Sigma Xi GIAR (2019), Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration (2019), Carriker Student Research Award in Malacology - American Malacological Society (2018), David and Ann Speaks Award, N.C. Coastal Conservation Association (2018), Coastal Research Fellowship - N.C. Sea Grant / National Estuarine
Research Reserve (2018), Conservation Leadership Award - N.C. Wildlife Federation (2017), Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2017).
2019-2021 Kyle Swanson, M.S., ECU (primary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Erin Field).
2016-2018 Rebecca Barnard, M.S., ECU
2013-2015 Martha Sanderson, M.S., LIU
2013-2015 Michael Roy, M.S., LIU
2012-2014 Leidy Leon, M.S., LIU
Teaching Philosophy and Professional Development
Over several years of teaching, my teaching philosophy has evolved as I have learned how to be a better instructor and help students take more responsibility for their own learning. I was also very fortunate to have been part of excellent training before I began teaching academically. While I was a postdoc at the Smithsonian Institution, I was accepted into an NSF-funded program called FIRST IV (Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching), the goal of which was to train postdocs interested in future academic careers to incorporate learner-centered methodologies into their teaching to achieve a higher level of undergraduate student learning. This program helps instructors move away from the traditional lecture-only style of teaching—which has been shown in many studies to have low retention of information—and instead move towards a more active classroom, where students are more engaged in their own learning and, in the end, better understand the lecture modules. As part of this professional development program, I attended two week-long intensive workshops in May 2009 and 2010 and learned through example ways in which to develop assignments, assessments, rubrics, and mini-lectures based on learner-centered and active-learning philosophies, which have been shown in many studies (e.g., Handelsman et al. 2004, Science) to enhance students’ retention, understanding, and processing of scientific information. The activities and assessments we developed during the workshop were vetted by our peers and supervising faculty. In particular, I was part of a group developing modules for an undergraduate ecology course, and I still use some of modules in the courses I have designed and taught over the years.
In my classes, I use a myriad of active learning activities during class time, including partner/group work and discussions, in-class “mini-labs”, and class-wide discussions, to assess learning and understanding of concepts within each class period. Furthermore, I design formative assessments that require a higher level of thinking and writing from students, i.e., analyzing data and drawing conclusions from the literature; designing experiments; developing arguments and finding evidence to support or refute them; writing question-based or argument-based essays; and in-class presentations. While the development of these classes requires a good deal of time, effort, and creativity, the benefit to students is profound: students that take learning into their own hands not only retain knowledge but actually understand concepts and research more than with traditional, instructor-centered teaching (Handelsman et al. 2004). Joseph Joubert once said: “To teach is to learn twice.” This statement has become even more relevant to me since taking part in the FIRST IV program, especially when I reflect back to my own time as a student and realize how much more I retained from courses that used similar methodologies. Although students may be less familiar with this type of teaching style in a traditional University setting, in my experience, they adapt quickly, and are generally much more interested, involved, and active during class-time. I have continued to maintain ties to FIRST IV and their professional development programs -- presently, I am taking part in a longitudinal study they are conducting with faculty who went through the program compared to controls. It has been incredibly fulfilling working to improve my instructional abilities through these opportunities, and also to help students realize their future interests and aspirations in the sciences.
East Carolina University Courses (Greenville, NC) (n=21 sections):
2017, 2019, 2023, 2025: Conservation Biology, BIOL 4920 (undergraduate majors lecture course: 4 sections).
2019, 2025: Invasion Biology, BIOL 6850 (graduate seminar course: 2 sections)
2015-2018, 2020-2021, 2023-2025: Environmental Biology, BIOL 1060 (non-majors undergraduate course: 9 sections)
2018, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025: Aquatic Parasitology & Disease, BIOL 4450/4451, BIOL 6220/6994 (cross listed undergrad/grad course w/ lab: 5 sections)
2022: Conservation Biology, BIOL 7920 (graduate lecture course: 1 section)
Shoals Marine Laboratory Courses (Appledore Island, ME) (n=9 sections):
2018-2019, 2021-2025: Marine Parasitology & Disease, BIOSM 3330 (Cornell) / MEFB 506 (UNH) (undergrad field course: 7 sections)
2022-2023: Marine Invasive Species, BIOSM 3340 (Cornell) / MEFB 720 (UNH) (undergrad field course: 2 sections)
Miami University Courses (Oxford, OH) (n=13 sections):
2024: Belize II: Fall Inquiry & Action, BIO 675 (graduate level web course: 1 section)
2024: Belize II: Approaches to Environmental Stewardship, BIO 645B (graduate level field / web course: 1 section)
2010-2011, 2022, 2024, 2025: Issues in Evolution, BIO 634 (graduate level web course: 5 sections)
2016, 2017: Baja: Field Methods, BIO/IES644 (graduate level field course: 2 sections)
Long Island University Courses (Brookville, NY) (n=24 sections):
2013, 2015: Marine Ecology, BIO 609 (graduate level lecture course: 2 sections)
2013-2015: Foundations in Biology II, BIO2 (non-majors undergraduate lecture & lab: 5 sections)
2011-2014: Ecology, BIO 109 (majors undergraduate lecture & lab: 4 sections)
2012-2015: General Biology II, BIO 104 (majors undergraduate lab: 8 sections)
2011-2014: Foundations in Biology I, BIO1 (non-majors undergraduate lab: 5 sections)
2011, 2024: Belize I: Forest & Marine Ecology (graduate level field / web course: 1 section)
2010-2011: Issues in Biodiversity (graduate level web course: 3 sections)
ADVISING/MENTORING
Current ECU Graduate Students (3 PhD and 3 MS students)
2025-present Amelia Magee, M.S. student (primary advisor, co-advised with Jim Morley).
2024-present Meghan Nadzam, M.S. student. Meghan was awarded an ECU WRC Water Scholars Award (2024).
2024-present Terry Papavasilis, Ph.D. student (secondary advisor, co-advised with Rebecca Asch). Terry was
awarded an ECU WRC Water Scholars Award (2025) and was selected for a Lionfish response traineeship program.
2023-present Garrett Maggio, Ph.D. student. Garrett has received the following awards: ECU Water Resources
Center Water Scholars Award (2023), the Jeannie Morris Graduate Fellowship for Coastal Conservation and Research (2023, 2024) – the inaugural year of the award and a second year, includes a $20,000 stipend; and a student award from the Diamond-backed Terrapin Working Group (2024). Garrett was also selected for an NSF National Research Traineeship fellowship at ECU for 2024-2025.
2023-present Mic Schulte, M.S. student. Mic received a competitive North Carolina Sea Grant / Water Resources
Research Center graduate fellowship (2025-2026) with a $10,000 stipend, an ECU Water Resources Center Water Scholars Award (2024) and a Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2024).
2022-present Carter Stancil, Ph.D. candidate (primary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Michael Brewer). Carter has
received the following awards: Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research (2024), Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2023), and notably Carter received a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) in 2023 under my guidance. This fellowship provides 3 years of graduate stipend and tuition support. https://biology.ecu.edu/stancil_nsf_grfp/ . Carter was also selected for an NSF National Research Traineeship fellowship at ECU for 2025-2026.
Former ECU & LIU Graduate Students (2 PhD and 10 M.S. students)
2023-2025 Grace Loonam, M.S. student, ECU (primary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Rachel Gittman). Grace
received the following awards: Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2023), ECU Water Resources Center Water Scholars Award (2023), and the NC Coastal Reserve – NC Sea Grant: 2024 Coastal Research Fellowship competition ($10,000 award).
2022-2024 Chloe Gabriel, M.S., ECU (primary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Jim Morley). Chloe is now a Research
Assistant in my lab. Chloe received the following awards: Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2023), ECU Water Resources Center Water Scholars Award (2023), Southern Shrimp Alliance scholarship (2022). Chloe was hired as a Research Technician from 2024-2025.
2021-2023 Haley Hagemeier, M.S., ECU. Haley received the following award as a MS student: ECU Water Resources Center Water Scholars Award (2022).
2017-2023 Timothy Lee, Ph.D., ECU. As a PhD student, Tim received the following awards: Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2021), North Carolina Wildlife Federation scholarship (2021), Crustacean Society graduate fellowship (2021).
2020-2022 Laura Lucas, M.S., ECU.
2020-2022 Nina Woodard, M.S., ECU. (secondary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Rachel Gittman).
2016-2022 Christopher Moore, Ph.D., ECU. Chris was awarded ECU’s prestigious Life Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2023; this is only awarded to one doctoral dissertation in the life sciences per year. As a PhD student, Chris
received over $40,000 in grant and fellowship support during his PhD, which included the following awards: Golden Key Research Grant - Golden Key International Academic Honor Society (2019), Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology GIAR (2019), Sigma Xi GIAR (2019), Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration (2019), Carriker Student Research Award in Malacology - American Malacological Society (2018), David and Ann Speaks Award, N.C. Coastal Conservation Association (2018), Coastal Research Fellowship - N.C. Sea Grant / National Estuarine
Research Reserve (2018), Conservation Leadership Award - N.C. Wildlife Federation (2017), Lerner-Gray AMNH grant (2017).
2019-2021 Kyle Swanson, M.S., ECU (primary advisor, co-advised with Dr. Erin Field).
2016-2018 Rebecca Barnard, M.S., ECU
2013-2015 Martha Sanderson, M.S., LIU
2013-2015 Michael Roy, M.S., LIU
2012-2014 Leidy Leon, M.S., LIU
Teaching Philosophy and Professional Development
Over several years of teaching, my teaching philosophy has evolved as I have learned how to be a better instructor and help students take more responsibility for their own learning. I was also very fortunate to have been part of excellent training before I began teaching academically. While I was a postdoc at the Smithsonian Institution, I was accepted into an NSF-funded program called FIRST IV (Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching), the goal of which was to train postdocs interested in future academic careers to incorporate learner-centered methodologies into their teaching to achieve a higher level of undergraduate student learning. This program helps instructors move away from the traditional lecture-only style of teaching—which has been shown in many studies to have low retention of information—and instead move towards a more active classroom, where students are more engaged in their own learning and, in the end, better understand the lecture modules. As part of this professional development program, I attended two week-long intensive workshops in May 2009 and 2010 and learned through example ways in which to develop assignments, assessments, rubrics, and mini-lectures based on learner-centered and active-learning philosophies, which have been shown in many studies (e.g., Handelsman et al. 2004, Science) to enhance students’ retention, understanding, and processing of scientific information. The activities and assessments we developed during the workshop were vetted by our peers and supervising faculty. In particular, I was part of a group developing modules for an undergraduate ecology course, and I still use some of modules in the courses I have designed and taught over the years.
In my classes, I use a myriad of active learning activities during class time, including partner/group work and discussions, in-class “mini-labs”, and class-wide discussions, to assess learning and understanding of concepts within each class period. Furthermore, I design formative assessments that require a higher level of thinking and writing from students, i.e., analyzing data and drawing conclusions from the literature; designing experiments; developing arguments and finding evidence to support or refute them; writing question-based or argument-based essays; and in-class presentations. While the development of these classes requires a good deal of time, effort, and creativity, the benefit to students is profound: students that take learning into their own hands not only retain knowledge but actually understand concepts and research more than with traditional, instructor-centered teaching (Handelsman et al. 2004). Joseph Joubert once said: “To teach is to learn twice.” This statement has become even more relevant to me since taking part in the FIRST IV program, especially when I reflect back to my own time as a student and realize how much more I retained from courses that used similar methodologies. Although students may be less familiar with this type of teaching style in a traditional University setting, in my experience, they adapt quickly, and are generally much more interested, involved, and active during class-time. I have continued to maintain ties to FIRST IV and their professional development programs -- presently, I am taking part in a longitudinal study they are conducting with faculty who went through the program compared to controls. It has been incredibly fulfilling working to improve my instructional abilities through these opportunities, and also to help students realize their future interests and aspirations in the sciences.
