Teaching

Bioe 135e/L  Plant Physiology    

This is a combined lecture (5 units) and lab (2 units) course that tackles both primary and secondary plant physiology, focusing heavily on water transport, photosynthesis, and phloem transport in the first five weeks, and covering topics like plant-microbe symbioses, soils, and secondary compounds in the second half of the quarter. Two midterms, a final exam, a group research project, and individual research comprise the grade for the lecture component, while labs and a lab practical cover the lab component. Have you ever wanted to know how plants work? Then this is the course for you! Prepare yourself for fun videos, plant anatomy, and lectures that connect plants to our lives.

This course is offered in Fall Quarter, except Fall 2025 😠 when I'll be on sabbatical. 😀

Coming in Spring 2025:  Bioe 1xx  Plants, Earth and Climate

I'm working on this! It'll be a 5-unit lecture+section course. Here's a snippet from the syllabus:

Plants, Earth, and Climate will explore how biotic and abiotic factors shaped the Earth's biosphere and how climate change will challenge the resilience of plant life on the planet. Topics will include but not be limited to core plant physiological processes and how they feed into climate feedback loops, photosynthesis and the formation of the atmosphere, plants and the paleoclimate, plant adaptations and resilience, climate change mitigation through plants, the interactions between climate change and agriculture, innovative plant biotechnologies, biofuels, and lastly, plant conservation in the face of climate change. By the end of the course, you will better understand the broader implications of plant function on the health of the planet.

Stay tuned! 🤓

Bioe 118 Plants and Society

The goal of this 5-unit course is to examine the relationship between plants and society using a multidisciplinary approach.  Plant chemistry, biogeography, genetics, and physiology will be examined from the perspective of social relevance. By the end of the course, you will know how plant components are used for food, fibre and medicine, and how human selection has shaped botanical form and function.  You will gain familiarity with many important plants and plant families.

Note that I will not be teaching this class Spring 2025 but it will continue to be offered. I don't know who will teach it but there's a 99.9% chance that they will be a better instructor than me. 🤣