I am an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Ecology, Behavior & Evolution at UC San Diego. My work sits at the intersection of generative AI and undergraduate biology education — I build open-source AI tools, study how students and instructors engage with them, and teach others how to design and evaluate their own.
My flagship tool, Schema Study, is a no-code LLM application for asynchronous student learning. It was published in CourseSource in 2026 and piloted with over 200 students. I also co-founded the SABER Generative AI Special Interest Group and co-organized the UC San Diego Generative AI Faculty Learning Community — communities that connect educators thinking carefully about AI in higher education.
I’m also a biologist. I teach BILD 5 (Data Analysis & Design for Biologists), a course centered on experimental design, statistics, and R programming, as well as courses in ecology and evolutionary biology.
Education
Saint Louis University | St. Louis, MO Ph.D. in Biology | August 2004 - May 2009
University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, CA B.A.’s in Biology and Geology | Sept 1998 - May 2003
Experience
UC San Diego | Assistant Teaching Professor | July 2020 - present
UC San Diego | Continuing Lecturer | July 2009 - June 2020
Past teaching experience at:
- City College (San Diego Community College District)
- Mesa College (San Diego Community College District)
- National University (San Diego)