Current Research --- Selected
Research Publications
Personal
Information
I am an entomologist with special interests in ecology
and behavior, and have been teaching in the Department of Biology since 1993.
My family includes my wife, Shirley, and kids, Kelly, Karl & Kendra, and puppy,
Packer Johnson Brown. Besides my family, I have a variety of other interests.
One area of intellectual interest involves understanding the interactions
between science and the Christian faith, especially our relationship to the
environment and responsibilities as stewards of creation. For relaxation,
I enjoy gardening, hiking, cross-country skiing, playing trombone, playing
handball, fly fishing, eating ice cream, and looking for trolls.
Peace
Teaching
Philosophy
The top priority in
my career is high quality teaching, providing my students with clearly organized
content, and emphasizing learning in an experiential, research-rich environment.
Excellence as a teacher in the classroom and laboratory, and providing my
students with top quality equipment and a pleasant learning environment are
important to me. I prefer to teach in the field and laboratory, rather than
a lecture hall, and keep the laboratory well-equipped for integrating into
my lecture and lab presentations appropriate resources from the internet,
2x2 slides, video microscopy, video and audio tapes, and videodisk images.
Teaching and learning
through research is an important part of my teaching, yet implementing this
concept can be difficult. Science is best taught in an environment which encourages
personal inquiry and experience, something which rarely occurs in the regular
lecture format. I utilize field trips, traditional and investigative style
laboratories, individual and small group research projects, and try to use
small discussion groups in my courses. I believe assignments should help students
develop and improve their communication skills by requiring both written and
oral presentations. When possible, I use the review and revision process common
in scientific writing as part of these written assignments.
As a teacher, I am thrilled
to be able to teach upper-level courses such as Entomology, Invertebrate Zoology,
Animal Behavior, and January-term courses such as Insects and Society, Ecology
of the Galapagos and Amazon Rainforest, Winter Biology, and Subtropical and
Marine Ecology. As an insect behavioral ecologist, these courses excite me,
are enjoyable to teach, and utilize my knowledge, training, and enthusiasm.
I cherish these opportunities, not only because I love teaching about insects
and the world which we share, but also because I honestly enjoy learning more
about these topics every time I have the opportunity to teach these courses.
I enjoy sharing this
knowledge, and my experiences and enthusiasm for biology with others. However,
being a teacher is both a privilege and a great responsibility. Each student
has a name and is unique, with different backgrounds, interests, dreams, personalities,
and world views. In interacting with my students, I attempt to treat each
student as an important individual and be concerned with their overall education.
My purpose as an educator is to teach them about all of life, not just the
subject material.
Current
Research
