Assistant Professor of Biology
Teaching Responsibilities
- Biol 1000 Principles of Biology
- Biol 1010 General Biology I: Principles
- Zoo 2010 Human Anatomy and Physiology I
- Zoo 2020 Human Anatomy and Physiology II
Education and Work History
- 1987-Present, Northwest College
- 2001 M.F.A., Non-fiction Writing and Literature, Bennington College
- 1982 M.A., Zoology, University of Montana
- 1980 B.A., Zoology, University of Montana
About me
I have a Master of Arts in Zoology from the University of Montana and a Master in Fine Arts in Nonfiction Writing and Literature from Bennington College. I have been a member of the Biology Department at Northwest College since 1987. After earning the M.F.A. in 2001, Introduction to Composition became a regular part of my teaching load. “Teaching writing is a lot different than teaching biology. Biology is more didactic and requires a highly technical vocabulary. I see it as a left-brain discipline. English, although didactic in its own right, is less formal and requires more right-brain ways of problem solving. After six years, I’m beginning to get the hang of it.”
Personal Essay and Science Publications:
My Latest Book: Biography of a Bird Dog (2007) Read about this latest work on its: website
- Meeting McCarthy
1992 The Southern Quarterly - Three Old Sheds
1998 Owen Wister Review - Making Hay
2000 - Teaching a Bird to Fly
2000 Hard Ground - An Ultimate West
2000 Owen Wister Review - Massage
2001 The Bennington Review - Among Brothers
2001 Hard Ground
Confessions of a Crossbow Hunter
2001 Owen Wister Review - Rain Forest Rain
2002 Dense Growth - Kane Cemetery
2002 Owen Wister Review - Both Sides of the Border
2002 Dry Ground - Wild Asparagus
2002 Hard Ground - This Ubiquitous Dust
2003 Owen Wister Review - Online article in ReadTheWest
- The Scent of Russian Olive
2005 Owen Wister Review - The Big Table Club
2006 Owen Wister Review - Urea Hydrolysis in Black-tailed
Prairie Dogs
1982 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - The Effects of Food and Water Deprivation
in Black-tailed Prairie Dogs
1992 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology
Honors:
- Finalist in the William Faulkner Creative Writing Competition (Essay Category) each year from 1997 to 2006. In 1997 - Second Place, and in 1999 - tied for Second Place.
- Honorable Mention in New Millennium Writings Awards VI and VII for Nonfiction.
- Honorable Mention for Creative Nonfiction in the Wyoming Arts Literary Fellowship Awards for the year 2005.
- Second Place in the 2004 Hard Ground writing competition.
- Notable Essay of the Year for the
years 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2005 as cited in
The Best American Essays.
My Top 10 Favorite Books:
- Goodbye to a River by John Graves
- Gathering Evidence by Thomas Bernhard
- Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
- The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
- Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl G. Jung
- Confessions of a Philosopher by Bryan Magee
- Lila by Robert M. Pirsig
- Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee
- Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
- A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
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