My time spent teaching in the classroom and the lab sustains my love of science and invigorates my research. I believe my role as an instructor is to improve and build self-efficacy in my students. To help students believe in their scientific abilities I provide credible communication and constructive feedback. I try to energize my students by being enthusiastic and passionate about the natural world. I believe that regular assessment is important, but students also need to gain self-confidence and resilience through independent work. I acknowledge the important role failure can play in the scientific process and praise students not just for mastery of material but also for effort and creativity when confronting new experiences and challenges.  My university level teaching experience includes introductory biology laboratory courses for majors and non-majors and co-instructing an upper level ecology course.