Teaching
I teach plant science fundamentals and have students use them on data, much of it collected by students with the tools researchers use.
The Water Path
An interactive site I built for the water relations units of Plant Physiology. Students follow water from the soil through roots, stems and leaves to the air, in seven stops.
Courses at CSU Monterey Bay
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BIO 332, Plant Physiology
How plants take up, move and lose water, fix carbon and respond to stress, from cells to the whole plant. Every student annotates synchrotron microCT scans of grapevine petioles from the Advanced Light Source for SYNAPS-I, a Berkeley Lab project, and two students from my lab help lead this work. The water relations units are taught with The Water Path.
Lab members at the Berkeley Lab microCT workshop for SYNAPS-I. -
BIO 106, Introduction to Plant Sciences, with laboratory
An introductory plant biology course with laboratory for students from several majors.
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AGPS 350, Research Methods for Crop and Soil Sciences, with laboratory
Experimental design and statistics in R, taught alongside two laboratory sections. Students annotate synchrotron microCT scans and use statistics to count embolized conduits and measure tissue shrinkage. This work was supported by a systemwide CSU LIFT award for teaching innovation, one of 45 funded from about 260 proposals.
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AGPS 415, Advanced Irrigation and Nutrient Management
How water and nutrient supply shape crop growth and plant water status. Students grow vegetables under different irrigation and nutrient levels in a hoop house, harvest and analyze them, and measure plant water status with the pressure chamber.
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AGPS 213, Principles of Viticulture
The biology and management of grapevines. A course I proposed and designed. It is now part of the catalog.
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AGPS 209, Plants, Agriculture, and Climate Change
How plants and crops respond to a changing climate. A course I proposed and designed. It is now part of the catalog.
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AGPS 397, Independent Research in Agriculture
Semester-long research projects with individual students, from stomata in lettuce under different irrigation levels to propagating wine grapes from woody cuttings.
Earlier teaching
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BIOL 5430, Seminar in Ecology: Plants and Climate Change (Cal State LA)
A graduate seminar I designed on plant responses to drought, built on readings, discussion and student presentations.
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Guest lectures
Graduate seminars in horticulture at UC Davis and in plant biology at UC Riverside, Plant Physiology and Integrative Organismal Biology at Cal State LA, and River Hydrology at CSU Monterey Bay.
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Teaching assistant, Grapevine Growth and Physiology (VEN 110) (UC Davis)