My first college biology class was Genetics. It was a sophomore-junior level class, but because I had taken AP Biology, I could take it as a first-semester freshman. By then, I was already theoretically in love with genetics, having read about scientists like Seymour Benzer, Barbara McClintock, and Monod and Jacob in high school. But once I attended that first lecture and turned the first page, I knew that was it for me. I had fallen madly, forever in love. Two decades later, I discovered there is one thing even more magical than studying genetics: teaching it. I’m so lucky to do so alongside the best students on earth—the undergraduates at the University of Michigan. 

Every fall, I look forward to opening BIO 305 Genetics with DNA replication. Although I can’t wait to get to Epigenetics and Synthetic Biology by December, it’s bittersweet, knowing the term will soon end. I love journeying with my students into genetics’ beautiful simplicity and linearity, only to arrive at the bizarre lands of epigenetics, where genes jump around chromosomes and phenotypes appear and disappear depending on environmental conditions. And in the winter, in MCDB 458, Neuroepigenetics, we explore how the world and our genes interact to shape our minds, behaviors, and life trajectories.

Beyond rigor and critical thinking, my classes are about community, communication, and collaboration. These elements are essential for building connection, establishing trust, and guiding students through the discomfort of uncertainty and the uneasiness of not knowing—until things begin to make sense. True learning comes through journeying together in discovery, dispelling wrong assumptions, laying new foundations, and awakening the empowerment that comes with understanding.

Teaching allows me to share with students what I believe to be the truest purpose of science: to reveal the unbounded beauty and awe of life, earth, and the universe to the human mind so that the heart might find hope. If science guides our steps, curiosity prompts us to embark on the journey, and creativity fuels our exploration. As a teacher, my goal is to tune students’ hearts and minds to these three elements, with science as the subject, object, and protagonist of the human story. While my practical aim is to teach Genetics and unlock the secrets of Nature’s code, my deeper purpose is to cultivate a lifelong love of learning, an outward-reaching curiosity, and a profound appreciation for the beauty surrounding us.

FIRST: Futures in Research, Science, and Teaching

This club prepares undergraduate and post-bac students for graduate school applications, graduate-level research, and PhD-based careers. Through FIRST, students will connect with graduate student mentors and participate in science-focused professional development events, gaining insights into diverse career paths within the biomedical sciences. For information, contact: first.contact@umich.edu