Teaching

Commitment to teaching

Visva-Bharati University, India

Bowling Green State University, Ohio

Harvard College, Cambridge MA

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX

Comparative zoology (200 level)
Entomology (200 level)
Vertebrate vascular system (Lab)
Vertebrate nervous system (Lab)
Biostatistics (300 level)

Environment of life (100 level)
Concepts in Biology (200 level)
Adv. topics in biology (400 level)
Animal Behavior (400 level)
Adv. Biostatistics (400 level)

Undergraduate thesis mentoring in behavioral neuroscience.
High School thesis mentoring in animal behavior.
CSHL summer school mentoring in Drosophila neurobiology

Advanced Genetics (300 level)
Automated analysis of complex social behavior (at Univ. of Mississippi).
Laboratory training in fly husbandry and behavior.

The City University of New York, New York

Barnard College,

New York

The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Undergraduate thesis mentoring in automated animal behavior.
Undergraduate mentoring in histopathology
Brain circuits in learning and memory (300 level)

HHMI-Pueblo Brain Science Program in Behav. Neuroscience
Automated analysis of social behavior (CURE)
Intro to Drosophila sleep lab (CURE)

Neurogenetics and principles of neuronal connectivity (300 level) Adapted as CURE.
Data visualization and statistical analysis (300 level)

A brief summary of my teaching experience across multiple universities and colleges highlighting primary courses taught, course levels, and students mentored.

My approach to teaching relies on having a dialogue with my students that is contemporary, interesting, and relatable. My goal through teaching is to promote critical thinking, informed decision making, and build the passion for science, which form the core values of my teaching principles. I firmly believe teaching and mentoring to be an integral part of the feed-forward mechanism that shapes the course of scientific discovery and builds future scientists from diverse backgrounds. I have taught in a diverse group of students across the US and beyond. My pedagogical techniques rely heavily on enquiry based, collaborative, and learner centered approaches.

I have taught broad undergraduate and graduate level courses in topics ranging from comparative zoology to principles of neuronal connectivity and behavioral neuroscience. For traditional classroom courses I have benefitted from clear communication early in the semester, setting attainable goals, and employing a learner centric approach. I also employ Think-pair share, minute paper, and muddiest point approaches heavily through the semester for effective learning. I look forward to bringing my extensive experience in teaching to classroom learning experiences.

The humble fruit fly as a perfect model system for CURE

Structured behavior

Machine learning algorithms for annotation

Feasibility for large

screens

Ease of running multi day experiments

Accessible genomic and gene editing tools

Fluorescent proteins!

Identify neurons and build in silico neural networks

'Small' footprint, smaller brains- but boundless possibilities

Drosophila has a fully sequenced genome, a fully annotated connectome, and display a tremendous diversity of behavior structured in unique action patterns. From individual behaviors like feeding, grooming, locomotion and sleep to complex social behaviors like courtship and aggression. Automated analysis by machine learning based classifiers has made quantification easy and brought it to the realm of true big data approaches. They are easy to keep alive, assays can run multiple days in multiplexed monitors, and abundant availability of genetic resources has made complex designs easy. Designing genetic mutants are easy, and so is identifying neuronal connectivities and putative neurotransmitter identities. All this can be done by undergraduate students, making this a perfect CURE opportunity.

One of my interests outside traditional classroom teaching is designing Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) courses to engage undergraduate students in research experiences as part of their regular curriculum. Unlike traditional lab courses, which often involve predetermined experiments with known outcomes, CUREs allow students to participate in novel research projects that explore real scientific questions. These classes promote active learning by integrating core research practices such as hypothesis generation, experimental design, data collection, and analysis. CUREs provide early exposure to scientific research, enhance critical thinking, and foster collaborative skills, preparing students for advanced research and scientific careers while contributing to the generation of new knowledge.

The fruit flies is an ideal model system for such endeavors. The generation time for Drosophila is 9-10 days, and it takes about a week or two to learn how to 'push' flies - identifying males and females, setting up genetic cross schemes, general fly husbandry, transferring them between food bottles, setting up genetic cross schemes, and marveling at what these tiny insects can teach us. That leaves over 10 weeks to carry out meaningful experiments as a CURE class. Working in groups of 2/3 students, a semester is often enough time to learn how to ask scientific questions and carry out experiments to find answers. A semester can also be utilized to finish behavior screens of interesting genes and neurons, learn how to visualize data, perform statistical analysis, and generate publication quality figures.

Dr. Karla Kaun, an Amazing fly scientist has written an incredible series of articles on Drosophila behavior that I believe is an essential reading for any Drosophilist. Find Karla's writings Here.

Beyond the Classroom

A significant part of my academic career has been spent promoting accessibility in STEM curricula and active efforts in the decolonization of science through these approaches. In addition to traditional lab and CURE courses I am actively engaged in science education through Programs likes the Harlem Biobus Initiative directed at inner city high school students in New York City. I am also the behavioral neuroscience educator for the HHMI funded initiative - "The Pueblo Brain Science Program (PBS)" that strives to build diversity and enhance accessibility to science and STEM in far corners of the US. At PBS, I get to bring neuroscience education to not only students at the university, but also to surrounding pueblos, reservations, and community colleges. My experience has convinced me that these first-generation, pell-eligible, immigrant students are often a spark away from blazing their path to STEM eminence, and I am strongly committed to doing all I can to support them in getting there.

I have also been fortunate to bring my commitment to rising scientists as a guest speaker at programs like NeuroCURE. For many bright minds, this program is their first experience with scientific thinking, methodologies, and training. Comprised of a diverse cohort, my one-on-one exchange on the philosophy of science with these students have only strengthened my conviction in inclusive excellence. In Programs like NeuroCURE and PBS and over my career, I have worked on developing structures to support equity and diversity, helped towards the goal of retention in science education, facilitated the active engagement of local communities, and promoted the cultivation of inclusive climate and culture in laboratories and beyond. I have also been active in identifying forces of resilience in my students and mentees and helped provide a space that recognizes their journey without being patronizing.

Open science, accessibility, and STEM engagement

Aggression Chamber

Courthship Chamber

Science happens best when everyone is included. I have made every novel assay, automated annotation tools, and machine learning based behavior classifiers freely accessible as a firm proponent of open science. Please reach out for questions on any methodology in my papers, or if you have trouble accessing any of my papers.

Divider assay aggression chamber 3d printable file Download: Here

Divider assay courtship chamber 3d printable file Download: Here

Lunge classifier download: Here

Divider Assay filter: Here