Teaching
Teaching has been a deeply rewarding aspect of my doctoral journey. I've learned a great deal not only from inspirational mentors, but also from my students and the wider community.
University of Maryland
Extinction and conservation
| Course: | HNUH 258C Nature at Risk: Extinction, Consequences, and Strategies |
| Role: | Teaching assistent (Fall 2025) Assisting material developmenet (Fall 2024—Summer 2025) |
I worked with the course instructor to develop materials for a new course in the Biology Honors Program using generative AI. To help students apply learned concepts to prioritize conservation targets without bias from preexisting knowledge of real species, I created a diverse set of fictional species spanning a wide range of life-history traits, population statuses, and human utitilies.
Population ecology
| Course: | BSCI 462 / BIOL 708R Population Ecology |
| Role: | Guest lecturer (Spring 2025) Teaching assistent (Spring 2024) |
Motivated by my interest in sustainability, I joined the teaching initiative to integrate global change concepts into the undergraduate biology curriculum as a TA for Population Ecology, supported by a UMD Teaching and Learning Grant.
I designed and delivered five lectures centered on Blue Crabs (an iconic species for Marylanders), using a case study approach to introduce key concepts in population dynamics, including population structure, species interactions, spatial dynamics, harvesting, and climate change. This includes an R tutorial as an in-class activity to demonstrate how these concepts can be applied to explore fishery policy options.
The lectures I developed have been integrated into the regular curriculum, and I was invited back the following year to give guest lectures.
Human anatomy
| Course: | BSCI 201 Human Anatomy and Physiology |
| Role: | Teaching assistent (Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, and Fall 2023) |
I taught anatomy lab sections twice a week for four semesters as part of the course (with lectures on physiology taught by the course instructor). To make this memorization-heavy subject more engaging, I incorporated active learning activities and developed online games as study aids. These games became widely used and are now a regular resource for the ~800 students who take the course each year.
Outreach
Public education meterials development
During my time at Academia Sinica, I worked with dedicated colleagues and undergraduates to create engaging educational materials, leading several of the projects including stick-on boards for kids to learn about natural and urban habitats of common birds in Taiwan, and an interactive online module “Are bats to blame for COVID-19?” designed to bust myths about the pandemic.
I also love volunteering each year at the Maryland Day, where I got to share my love for science and nature with the public through fun activities.
