Teaching and Mentoring

Teaching Experience

Instructor of Record

Evolution and Behaviour of the Sexes - Princeton University (2014)
Integrative Dynamics of Animal Behaviour - Princeton University (2014)

I took over both of these undergraduate-level courses for a semester following the retirement or departure of their previous Instructors. I rewrote the courses from the ground up, designing my own lectures, in-class activities and assignments. For each course, I supervised an Assistant Instructor who ran weekly discussion sections and helped with grading duties.

Team Teaching

Advanced Course in Collective Animal Behaviour - University of Konstanz (2018, 2019)
For this Masters-level course I worked with other members of the department to deliver two weeks of lectures on topics and tools in the field of collective animal behavior. Over the following six weeks I supervised small groups of students as they conducted independent research projects using data from the Herd Hover project.

Animal Behaviour - University of Konstanz (2018, 2019, 2020)
For this undergraduate-level course, I gave one lecture per semester and wrote and graded questions related to my lecture on the final exam.

Assistant Instructor

Animal Behavior - Princeton University (2012, 2013)
Evolution and Behavior of the Sexes - Princeton University (2009)

For these undergraduate-level courses, I ran weekly discussion sections with small groups of students, assisted with the design of student assignments, graded assignments, and worked individually with students during office hours. For Evolution and Behavior of the Sexes, I also helped organize a field trip to the Philadelphia Zoo.

Junior Writing Tutorial - Princeton University (2010)

In this course, I provided support for undergraduates as they wrote their Junior Papers (precursors to their senior thesis proposals). This included two rounds of paper review and one-on-one meetings with each student to discuss the writing process.

Collaborating Scientist

Documentary Palaces - Merz Akademie (2022)

I collaborated with Prof. Mario Doulis, Prof. Joost Bottema, and Jörg Frohnmeyer from the New Media and Visual Communications Departments of the Merz Akademie in Stuttgart on Documentary Palaces, a course in which bachelor’s students designed visual media centered on the Herd Hover project. As the scientific collaborator, I introduced the students to my research, shared my data, and consulted on their project concepts and execution. The students presented their final projects at the Merz Akademie in Stuttgart on July 6, 2022. We received funding for this collaboration from the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz.

Mentoring Experience

Masters Theses

Sven Lauke (University of Konstanz, 2018)
Behavioral responses to UAVs by wild ungulate herds

Sven joined the Herd Hover project as a field assistant for two field trips in 2017 and helped develop the field protocols for collecting our drone footage. He then worked with me as a student research assistant at the University of Konstanz before beginning his thesis project, which explored the behavioral responses of antelope, zebra and buffalo to drone observation. Sven is now pursuing his Ph.D. in the Department of Animal Husbandry, Behaviour and Welfare at the University of Giessen.

Felicitas Oehler (University of Konstanz, 2019)
Structure and associations within plains and Grevy’s zebra herds during a disturbance

Felicitas joined the Herd Hover project as a field assistant in 2018. She worked with me as a student research assistant before beginning her thesis project, which examined structures of spatial distribution and association within zebra herds, and how these structures changed when groups were disturbed. Felicitas presented a poster of her results at the 2019 summer meeting of the Association of the Study of Animal Behavior at the University of Konstanz. She is now pursuing her Ph.D. in the Wildlife Research Unit of the Landwirtschaftliches Zentrum of Baden-Württemberg.

Undergraduate Theses

At Princeton, I supervised rising senior undergraduates in the Rubenstein Lab as they conducted fieldwork for their thesis projects. This included managing logistics of fieldwork in Kenya and New Jersey, consulting on study design, training them in field techniques, and helping with data collection.

Zackory Burns (Princeton University, 2010)
The interaction of leadership, risk assessment and information exchange in plains zebras: reaction to lion dung near an East African savannah water hole

Sully Carmona (Princeton University, 2011)
The effects of predation risk on maternal behavior of the Thomson’s gazelle

Youngin Lim (Princeton University, 2013)
Collective vigilance and risk management: anti-predatory vigilance behavior in Thomson’s gazelle

Jennifer Zhao (Princeton University, 2017)
Horsing around: quantifying the resilience of the social networks of Equus caballus