Teaching & Mentorship

I care a lot about teaching and have taught at both extremes of the age range: pre-K and retirees (and plenty in between)! I try to approach teaching as an adaptive, learner-centered process shaped by context, age, and goals. Below, I have a summary of my teaching experience, but see my CV for more information.

Read on for my undergraduate teaching, mentorship, independent teaching at Osher, and training and outreach.

Undergraduate Teaching

I have served as a Teaching Assistant in Dartmouth's Psychological and Brain Sciences Department for the following courses. After completing my TAships, I was awarded my department's Marie A. Center 1982 Award for Excellence in Teaching and, at the college level, the Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award (twice). I was also a Teaching Assistant at the University of Chicago.

  • Introduction to Neuroscience, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Fall 2023
  • Psychological Research Methods, Spring 2022
  • Core Biology: Neurobiology, 2018 University of Chicago

"Her ability to pinpoint what was important was amazing, but she also went above and beyond by making sure that we understood — and didn't memorize — key topics."

— Undergraduate student, Introduction to Neuroscience, Winter 2023

"I think she was the reason that I did well in this class and want to continue to pursue classes in the Neuroscience department."

— Undergraduate student, Introduction to Neuroscience, Fall 2022

Undergraduate Mentorship

I have mentored several undergraduate researchers, including three thesis students across the Cognitive Science, Psychology, and Neuroscience departments, as well as two additional students on formal research projects. I enjoyed giving students the space to develop independent research directions, and they wound up doing things completely out of my wheelhouse, which was great to see! All three thesis students received fellowships for their work, and I supported each of their grant applications. See my CV for more details.

Independent Teaching · Osher Courses

One of the best things I've done in the last decade is find Osher and start teaching there. I design and teach courses for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Dartmouth, for retirees and adults approaching retirement. Each session mixes a short lecture with open discussion, and I let participants' questions steer where we go. See my courses and reviews here

If you are an Osher student, class materials are on the Osher Courses page.

"I loved how she adjusted her topics to the direction of the class discussion. It is clear the instructor was very well prepared and versed in the material to be able to do this."

— Osher participant, Spring 2024

"She was very knowledgeable but was always prepared to check out something where she needed help with the answer — refreshing to have a class with a young Ph.D. student who was so enthusiastic."

— Osher participant, Fall 2022

Training & Outreach

My teacher training includes coursework through the Dartmouth Center for Advanced Learning and the Careers in Education program at UChicago, where I studied education policy and socioemotional learning strategies with support from the Milgrom Education Impact Fellowship.

I've also volunteered with teaching organizations: Jumpstart at UChicago, and later Splash! at Stanford and iMentor Bay Area, all of which I highly recommend. I also work with high school students directly, tutoring them on research topics and giving one-off lectures on the basics of neuroscience.