Teaching and Mentoring

Courses as Instructor or Teaching Assistant

Fall 2019 Instructor. Utah State University. BIOL 4750/6750. Behavioral Neurobiology. Upper-level special topics seminar for undergraduate and graduate students. Explores the mechanisms and neuronal organization of animal behavior across diverse taxa.
Spring 2015 Co-instructor/Lecturer. UC-Davis. PSC159 Gender and Human Reproduction. Assisted in syllabus development and course design, taught two 2-hr classes on “The Brain: Sex, Gender, & Behavior” and “World Cultures of Gender”, implemented engaged learning activities, wrote exam questions.
Fall 2012 Instructor. Emory University. BIOL385/SOC389/WGS389 Intersex: Biology & Gender, an interdisciplinary undergraduate course that I designed about intersex in humans. It covers both the biology of sexual differentiation in humans, as well as gender-related studies about gender theory and issues surrounding the binary concept of gender in our society. I was interviewed for Emory’s Neuroethics Blog and the eScienceCommons blog about my course.
Spring 2012 Co-instructor/lecturer. Emory University. WGS385/NBB370 Feminism, Sexuality and Neuroethics. Developed content, lectured, and lead discussions for three 1-hr classes about biological research on monogamy, ethics of neuroenhancement of love and marriage, media perceptions in translating science findings, and alternative human sexuality styles within a pro-monogamy society.
Fall 2008 Teaching Assistant. Emory University. NBB301: “Introduction to Neurobiology”.
Spring 2008 Teaching Assistant. Emory University. BIOL470/MUS470: “The Musical Brain”.
Spring 2007 Teaching Assistant. Emory University. BIOL348: “Mechanisms of Animal Behavior”.

Invited Guest Lectures

Oct 2019 Utah State University. BIOL1050 Biology Professions. Taught a 60-min class on “Oxytocin and the Comparative Neurobiology of Social Attachment: From Animals to Autism”.
May 2016 UC-Davis. NPB152 Hormones and Behavior. Taught an 80-min class on “Comparative oxytocin receptor pharmacology and neuroanatomy in primates and humans”.
Nov 2015 UC-Davis. PSC121 Physiological Psychology. Taught a 75-min class on “Hormones & Behavior”.
Oct 2015 UC-Davis. NPB130 Physiology of the Endocrine Glands. Taught a 50-min class on “Comparative oxytocin receptor pharmacology and neuroanatomy in primates and humans”.
May 2015 UC-Davis. PSC121 Physiological Psychology. Taught a 75-min class on “Hormones & Behavior”.
Oct 2012 Emory University. PSC315 Psychology of the Family. Taught a 75-min class on “The Biology of Mate Selection and Attraction” and wrote exam questions.
Jan 2011 Emory University. BIOL200 Introduction to Research. Taught a 1-hr class on “Hormones & Social Behavior” and assigned and graded a written assessment.
Dec 2010 Emory University. NBB120 From Botox to Behavior: Neuroscience for Non-scientists. Taught a 2-hr class on “Neuroendocrinology of Social Behavior”.

Mentorship Experience

Sept 2019-present Research Advisor for five undergraduate researchers: Maddie Measom, Trevor Anderson, Kip Dooley (honors student), Nate Johnson, Sophia Adamis. Utah State University.
Aug 2019-present Dissertation Committee Member. Max McDermott, PhD student in Neuroscience. Utah State University.
Jan-Jun 2017 Research mentor for a French intern’s Masters Thesis at UC-Davis: Louise Loyant (now pursuing a PhD).
2016-present Research mentor for four independent undergraduate research projects at UC-Davis: Megan Masnaghetti; Bhavdeep Singh; Venus Shabgahi; Amy Wong (ASPIRE Scholar).
Nov’18-Aug’19; Oct’15-Mar’17 Direct supervisor for part-time research specialist at UC-Davis: Michelle Palumbo (now has a Masters; is currently pursuing a PhD).
2015-2016 Research mentor for an independent undergraduate research project at UC-Davis: Shrishti Bhattarai (McNair Scholar).
Summer 2015 Research mentor for two undergraduate interns’ independent research projects at UC-Davis: Emily Wright (now pursuing a PhD), Julie Ngo (McNair Scholar).
2014-2015 Mentor for the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Mentorship Program at UC-Davis: advised undergraduate Yvonne Chang (now pursuing a PhD).
Fall 2013 Research mentor for a French intern’s independent research project at UC-Davis: Nancy Rebout (now pursuing a PhD).
Summer 2011 Research mentor for an undergraduate student in the BRAIN (Behavioral Research Advancements in Neuroscience) Summer Research Program at Emory University: Elizabeth Hinton (now pursuing a PhD).