Elizabeth Flaherty recognized for teaching excellence

TWS member Elizabeth Flaherty was recently selected to present during the Purdue University College of Agriculture’s 6^th annual Celebration of Teaching Excellence.

Flaherty, an associate professor of wildlife ecology and habitat management in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, spoke about methods and mindsets she’s used to help her students prepare for the workforce in her lecture, “Teaching More than Course Content.”

Flaherty discussed some professional development she includes in her courses including team debates over scientific articles in order to help build confidence, self-efficacy and empathy. Another method she uses to teach her students is Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) to help students develop research skills.

In her talk, Flaherty advocated for students attending national scientific conferences for networking purposes. In fact, she conducted surveys before and after conferences and found that students who attended were more likely to pursue a career in wildlife and planned to go to graduate school.

Read more at Purdue University’s website.