Teaching

Teaching philosophy and interests

Teaching at universities is of paramount importance, as it educates the scientists of the future and helps to promote understanding of science in the general public by educating students who will not become scientists themselves. In my lectures I try to have something for everyone: a basic frame that is easy enough to understand for most students and additional information that gives especially interested students more to think about.

My teaching interests are mostly in evolutionary genetics, model building and evolutionary systems biology.

Upcoming Courses: Evolutionary Systems Biology and more

Applications are now open for an exciting new course in evolutionary systems biology. Email me if you are interested.

Fall 2013: Genetics 677: Evolutionary Systems Biology (3 Credit Course, Tuesday 9:30-10:45am, Thursday 9:30-10:45am). Applications are open now.

If you want to come to this course see the course flyer here for how to apply.

Stay tuned for the upcoming syllabus that I will put on this website as it is completed over the summer.

This course will cover the following topics:

• Overview of evolutionary systems biology
• Building models in molecular systems biology
• 7 levels of fitness landscapes (a series of functions that might help us get from DNA sequence to fitness)
• Building models in population genetics
• How to run simulation models in an environment that makes modeling easy
• How to document models properly
  
• How to get data for models from the scientific literature

and more...

Other courses

Fall 2013: Biocore 301 Module: Introduction to Population Genetics (6 lecture module). Biocore website with syllabus and application info

Spring 2014: Biocore 333 Module: Evolutionary Systems Biology (3 weeks, partially flipped classroom) Biocore website with syllabus and application info

Past Teaching experience

Spring 2013: Biocore 333 Module: Evolutionary Systems Biology (3 weeks, partially flipped classroom) Biocore website with syllabus.

Fall 2012: Biocore 301 Module: Introduction to Population Genetics (6 lecture module) Biocore website with syllabus.

During the academic year 2006/2007 I served as a Lecturer in Evolutionary Genetics at the University of Edinburgh, while covering the teaching duties of Prof. Nick Barton (old homepage; book; new homepage):

• Foundations of evolution
  (4x2h, MSc in Evolution of Language and Cognition)
• Introduction to population genetics
  (2x1h, MSc Quantitative Genetics & Genome Analysis)
• Evolution of sex & breeding systems (course website)
  (2x2h + course organization, 4th year honours students)
• Major transitions in evolution
  (2x2h, Animal Evolution, 4th year honours students))
• Speciation
  (2x1h lectures + tutorials, Ecological Genetics, 3rd year biology students)
• Evolution honours tutorials
  (2x1h, advanced topics, 4th year honours students)
• Evolutionary genetics module (course website)
  (4x2h lectures + practicals + course organization, MSc in Quantitative Genetics & Genome Analysis)