Jameel Al-Haddad is an instructor (fixed-term) in the Department of Plant Biology with ten-year experience as teaching assistant followed by four years as instructor of record at Oakland Community College and Michigan State University. His teaching approach shifted from traditional to learner-centered, evidence-based pedagogy. He taught in-person, hybrid, and fully online courses for majors and non-majors. He was named a ‘Learning Leader’ by the Department of Residence Life at MSU. Jameel served on two standing departmental committees, the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Jameel joined MSU as an international graduate student and earned a dual PhD in plant biology and ecology, evolutionary biology and behavior (EEBB). He earned both of his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from Jordan University of Science and Technology in Jordan. Jameel published primary research articles in the fields of plant stress physiology, plant pathology, and plant biomechanics.

Beth Brisco-McCann is an instructor in the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University. She
completed her Bachelors in Plant Biology at the University of British Columbia, her Masters degree in
Biotechnology from the University of Toronto, and her Doctorate in Plant Breeding and Genetics from
MSU. She currently teaches PLB105 (Introductory Plant Biology) and ISB202 (Applications of
Environmental and Organismal Biology). In these large lecture courses, Beth employs multiple active
learning methods to engage students with the material, including iClicker questions and group activities.
She has taught both online and in-person formats and is always seeking ways to improve the
educational experience of her students. Her ultimate goal is to impart the importance of science in her
students’ lives and wonder of the world around them.

Phillip Delekta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University. He is also the Course Director of MMG 301 Introductory Microbiology and MMG 494L Summer Undergraduate Research Institute in Genomics. Phillip earned his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Michigan. During his postdoctoral studies in virology at the University of Michigan, he completed the Postdoctoral Short-Course on College Teaching in Science and Engineering by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at UM and gained his first lead instructor experience teaching part time at Eastern Michigan University. During a second postdoctoral fellowship in bacteriology at MSU, he received certification with distinction for completion of An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching by the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning and taught BS 171 and MMG 434. As course director of MMG 301, he has focused on developing an active learning model and online learning environments that emphasize scientific practices.

I am an Assistant Professor in Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Physiology at Michigan State University. I earned my Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and was previously a Teaching Professor at the University of Washington where I won the university-wide Distinguished Teaching Award.

I use evidence-based teaching strategies in all of my teaching and have taught in a variety of courses and settings, including introductory and advanced science courses for majors and pre-service teachers, methods courses, individual student research projects, and professional development for K-16 teachers and mentored co-teaching with grad students and postdocs.
I use a mechanistic approach to biology and my exams are at higher Bloom’s levels where students’ must synthesize information and solve novel problems.

I am a biology education researcher and investigate how undergraduate students develop principle-based reasoning. I use a learning progressions approach to coherently links students’ developing reasoning, data from learning assessments, and instructional tools and approaches.

Neal Hammer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan. The Hammer laboratory studies Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance from a metabolic perspective. Dr. Hammer’s teaching appointment began in 2017 and focused on Introductory Microbiology, an upper level science course with an enrollment that exceeds 400. The format of the course was initially a didactic lecture, but active learning was impeded by poor attendance. To enhance student learning by increasing active participation, in 2018, the course was ‘flipped’ to a hybrid online, in-person format. Since then Dr. Hammer and his colleagues have been fine-tuning the format and content. His major goal is to help students appreciate the importance of microbiology in their every-day lives and achieve their academic goals.

My name is Jonathan Hardy and I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University. I teach a 300-level course in Microbiology with about 480 students per semester. The course is team-taught with another professor and is a flipped course, with all lectures in the form of 10 to 20-minute videos. We use the online Desire to Learn (D2L) program to provide the lectures and for formative assessments. The course includes one 80-minute in-person section for the students each week, where they are broken into groups of four for active learning. The groups are carefully assigned using CATME to match the students and form productive groups. I greatly enjoy teaching this class, although it is a lot of work. The sections are fun because we can interact with the students directly. Many undergraduate students in my lab have come from this course.

Research and Background

Diane Ebert-May is and University Distinguished Professor and Graduate Director in the Department of Plant Biology. She received her Ph.D. in Ecology, Population, and Organismal Biology at University of Colorado. Her research focuses on testing a model she created for professional development of faculty and postdoctoral fellows in transformed teaching and the long-term influence of departments on early career faculty teaching. Her book, Pathways to Scientific Teaching (Ebert-May and Hodder eds, second edition in prep), is based on student-centered learning, inquiry-based instructional strategies, assessment and research.

Contact

• Email: ebertmay@msu.edu

Research and Background

Cori Fata-Hartley is an Assistant Dean in the College of Natural Science and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. She earned her Ph.D in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at the University of Toledo. Her her work is focused on improving STEM teaching and learning and increasing the retention and academic success for a diverse group of learners interested in STEM. She works with departments and programs across the college to develop and improve curricula and the connections among them. Fata-Hartley will direct the STEM Teaching and Learning Fellows program and coordinate collection of data (assessments, classroom videos, interviews) from the Fellows, course coordinators, and faculty who are not participating in the STEM Teaching and Learning Fellows program. Fata-Hartley will also work with the Biology faculty team on protocol development and coding activities.

Contact

• Email: fatahart@msu.edu

Corey Higley is an Assistant Professor with the Biological Sciences Program at Michigan State University. She is an aquatic ecologist with a background in higher education scholarship and undergraduate learning pedagogy. Corey earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her MS and PhD from Michigan State. Her dissertation research focused on assessing pedagogical approaches that influence student attitudes about the environment as an outcome of learning in environmental and natural resources courses. Corey teaches introductory organismal biology lab and lecture courses, as well as various field courses and study abroad!

I’m an evolutionary geneticist in the Plant Biology department at Michigan State University. My lab studies how evolution shapes trait variation within plant species. I’ve been working at MSU since 2019. Before coming here, I was a postdoc at the University of California, Davis, and a PhD student at the University of Toronto. I’m originally from southern California but I kind of like winter. In addition to being a professor, I’m mom to one kiddo (born in 2021), and a mediocre triathlete.

Jinjie Liu is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University who focuses on education and research. She teaches cell and molecular biology courses at Biological Sciences Program and established a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) curriculum for the Cell and Molecular Biology laboratory course, providing students with more inclusive research experiences and aiming to inspire them for a STEM career. She assesses students’ learning outcomes and scaffolds their learning process as part of her education research focus. Her science research interest is in lipid metabolic engineering and lipid-mediated signaling pathways.

Shahnaz Masani is an assistant professor at Lyman Briggs College & the Department of Physiology.  Her mission as educator is not only to teach, but also to inspire; to create life-long learners and informed, thoughtful citizens. She strives to design an inclusive, engaging & challenging classroom. She uses a flipped approach to teaching, with an aim to help students identify and link core concepts and develop their science process skills by constructing and testing hypothesis, analyzing data, and constructing scientific arguments in lab and lecture. Her research focuses on identifying novel pedagogical approaches in biology education, with an emphasis on interventions focused on increasing inclusivity & equity in the classroom.

Research and Background

Jon Stoltzfus is Director of the Biological Sciences Program and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics from Michigan State University. His research interests include how students use core ideas in developing explanation across introductory undergraduate science courses.

Contact

• Email: stoltzfu@msu.edu

Cholani Weebadde is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University (MSU). She received her Ph.D. degree with a dual major in the Genetics and the Plant Breeding and Genetics programs of Michigan State University in 2005. As the Plant Breeder for International Programs, Dr. Weebadde interacts closely with MSU breeders to help expand their programs by reaching out to the global plant breeding community through initiating collaborative research and capacity building programs.

Dr. Weebadde is currently on a 100% teaching appointment and teaches plant breeding and biotechnology courses. She also teaches Biology to non-biology majors through the Center for Integrative Studies in General Sciences (CISGS). During summer, she continues mentoring graduate and undergraduate students in strawberry breeding research with a focus on training future plant breeders and educators while developing new varieties and also teaches an online professional plant breeding certificate course to an international audience.

Research and Background

Tammy Long is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Biology at MSU. She received her Ph.D. in Biology at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, for work that explored plant responses to climate-nutrient interactions. Her current research examines how students learn and reason about biological systems, particularly when using visual and/or data representations.

Contact

• Email: longta@msu.edu
• LongLab Website: https://longlab.natsci.msu.edu