In spite of thinking teaching was something I had no interest in, at the end of my senior year in college I accepted a job to teach high school (and AP) Biology. Only for a year– which then turned into a lifelong career!

After a few years teaching high school, I entered grad school to earn my PhD in Zoology, focusing on animal behavior. I started teaching college classes while finishing my degree and have been teaching at NC State University ever since.

While I still teach the freshman Ecology/Evolution/Biodiversity course and the upper-class Animal Behavior course, I’ve also created new courses including the Evolution of Human Behavior and a graduate course on the Physiology of Stress. A variety of courses keeps things interesting!

I’ve also been lucky enough to become involved with a study abroad program that has taken me to Namibia three years, so I’ve been able to return to Africa, one of my favorite places ever. Happily, I’ve now instilled the same love of Africa and its wildlife and people into my teenage daughter– so maybe she’ll be an SFS student one day too!

Favorite SFS Memory: Riding all over the ranch and the Serengeti and the northern desert region in an open Land Rover with friends, singing “Southern Cross,” and being overwhelmed and grateful.