2000 Faculty Fellow Jim Colbert
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Jim Colbert Associate Professor Department of Botany |
I am a native Iowan, born and raised in Cedar Rapids. I was fascinated by biology from as far back as I can remember and spent large portions of my childhood in and around the woods and streams near my parent's home. In 1975 I began my undergraduate career at Iowa State University. Two very important things happened to me during that time - I realized that I was most interested in plant biology and, as part of my Honors Project, I was introduced to research in plant biology. Those two events lead rather directly to my enrolling as graduate student in the Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I spent seven years in Madison, earning both an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Botany doing research in plant cell and molecular biology. But, perhaps more importantly, I was supported for a good share of my graduate career as a teaching assistant in plant biology laboratory courses. I found teaching about plant biology to be very rewarding, not to mention being an excellent way to learn more about plant biology myself!
I left Madison (with no small amount of regret) to accept a faculty position at Colorado State University. I established a small research program in plant molecular biology there and began teaching in large introductory biology and botany classes. I found the large lecture setting to very challenging, but also very intriguing. After three years at Colorado State I found myself with the opportunity to return to Iowa State as a member of the Department of Botany. I accepted the position, returning to the Iowa State campus with my spouse and two young children in the fall of 1988.
As with many new faculty members, I found my time mostly occupied by the challenges of establishing a research program, obtaining research grants, advising graduate students, preparing manuscripts for publication, etc. At the same time, I was asked to teach in large lecture format botany and biology classes. The first indication that I might have a somewhat different perspective than many of my colleagues was when I found myself wishing that I had more time to spend on my classes.
My interests in teaching activities have continued to grow. I currently teach in both Biology 201 and Biology 202 (large introductory classes), Botany 308X (plant biology for pre-service teachers), participate in a web-based version of Biology 202, serve as a faculty coordinator for Biology 201L and 202L (the laboratory courses that accompany Biology 201 and 202). I also organize and coordinate the service-learning component (the "Skunk River Navy") of the Biology Learning Community ("BEST"), and serve as the chair of the Biology Curriculum Committee.
I was delighted to be named a Center for Teaching Excellence Teaching Faculty Fellow for 2000-2001. I look forward to working with the CTE Staff on various projects during the year. My specific fellowship project will be to begin assessment of the impact of student participation in the service-learning component of the biology learning community (see: http://www.biology.iastate.edu/SRN/SRN.html).
