I am a graduate of Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Botany and a Master of Science Degree from the University of Arizona in Plant Genetics.  In addition I completed all the course work requirements for my Ph.D. in Horticulture also from the University of Arizona.

I have over 20 years of experience as a science teacher including 18 years as a biology instructor at the community college level in both majors and non-majors biology, anatomy and physiology, genetics, and botany. I have worked at Community Colleges in both California and Colorado as an Adjunct Faculty and my experience includes both traditional face-to-face courses and on-line teaching. I have been responsible for both the development of new courses as well as the refinement of existing course to meet evolving standards.  As an Adjunct Faculty member, much of this work required working closely with the full-time staff of the college to achieve these goals

I have been instrumental in the development of an on-line biology course through the Monterey Institute including writing 12 chapters of an on-line text and creating the activities and learning objectives for these chapters.  Even though this work was accomplished complete through on-line efforts, the work involved close coordination on people from across the country to complete the work effort within the tight timeline established by the institute.

One of my core beliefs is that science needs to be made accessible to all levels and groups.  To this end, I have worked with Hands-On Science to develop laboratories for Biology students including Advance Placement High School students who are distance learners and/or home school students.  This again required an on-line collaborative effort to establish goals, develop the concepts, and determine the best methods for achieving learning objectives for each lab. I also volunteer at local elementary schools as a science fair judge, most recently at Campbell Elementary in Arvada. 

At Foothills Academy I teach biology and chemistry.  My approach to working with students is grounded in my belief that all students can do science and apply their science knowledge to their lives .   It is my job to bring the excitement and interest to the topic to generate good discussion and investigations.    Each concept is introduced first by looking into the history and the people behind the concept.  Then using a combination of activities, lecture and laboratory we explore the concept.   Culminating activities include reviewing, lab reports and assessments.  It is a real pleasure to see students grasp concepts and gain confidence in their abilities to comprehend and apply science to the world around them.