Gross Anatomy
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Teaching
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Research and Student Mentoring
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Dissection remains the key to mastering human anatomy. Since 2008 I have taught MED 500a The Body with five other of my fellow Anatomical Sciences faculty members at Stony Brook University Medical Center. In this class, we take a dissection-based regional approach to teaching human anatomy. The course is offered every Fall semester with an enrollment of roughly 132 first year medical students.
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I teach a graduate-level Phylogenetic Methods course. This class consists of lectures and labs that combine overviews of modern phylogenetic and comparative methods with hands-on specimen-based projects training graduate students in relevant computer software like PAUP, TNT, MrBayes, BEAST, RevBayes, and R-based packages.
In addition to these formal teaching settings, I also co-organize a weekly Evolutionary Biology Discussion Group among graduate students and faculty in Anatomical Sciences, Ecology and Evolution, and Anthropology. In the past I have taught general enrollment courses focusing on Earth History, Dinosaur Evolution, and Principles of Biology course. |
To date, I have served on the thesis committees 15 students (7 as primary advisor), 10 of which have completed their thesis and now are employed in Anatomy programs or other research institutions in the US. My most recently graduated PhD student, Adam Pritchard, secured competitive postdocs at both Yale University and the Smithsonian. He is now the Assistant Curator of Paleontology at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Currently I supervise three PhD students (Kate Corbin, Candice Stefanic, and Alexander Beyl), and a Postdoctoral Scientist (Dr. Pedro Godoy).
Dr. Sarah Werning, a former NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in my lab and now an assistant professor at Des Moines University, and I are collaborating on a project looking at the evolution of Crocodylomorph growth and metabolic rates in deep time. Through a partnership with Smithtown West High School, I help local high school students get exposure to and develop skill in conducting research. This has been a rewarding experience for both myself and the students. In 2010 Brian Ralph qualified for a Simons Summer Research Fellowship and has participated in the Siemens Competition and was an 2011 Intel Research Competition semifinalist. Kavita Jain qualified for a Simons Summer Research Fellowship in 2012 and was an 2012 Intel Research Competition semifinalist. Most recently, Anthony D'Amore was a 2018 Regeneron Talent Search Semifinalist, placed 1st Place in Animal Science at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (LISEF) and 2nd place at the national ISEF competition. |