Vivienne is a Lecturer in the Departments of Botany and Zoology. She has a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from UBC, a B.Ed. (Secondary School) from UBC, and a Ph.D in Botany from UBC, where she studied the phylogeny and comparative genomics of mycoheterotrophic plants.
Vivienne has taught a variety of courses at UBC, including BIOL 121 (Genetics, Evolution and Ecology), BIOL 200 (Fundamentals of Cell Biology), BIOL 260 (Fundamentals of Physiology), and BIOL 340 (Introductory Cell Biology Laboratory). She is currently the Coordinator for the BIOL 200 course.
What led you to pursue teaching?
My mother taught in both elementary and secondary schools, so I grew up with a parent who knew how to make learning fun. This was key: making learning fun. One of my earliest memories was of myself ‘lecturing’ a captive audience of stuffed animals, standing in front of a mini-chalkboard with chalk in hand. I knew that I enjoyed teaching, so I actively sought teaching opportunities: I tutored in high school, completed a B.Ed. degree, and TAed in graduate school. After several opportunities as a guest lecturer at UBC, I realized that this was something I wanted to do as a life-long career. I find it really rewarding to share things that I’ve learned with others around me.
What do you most enjoy about being an instructor?
I enjoy being able to relate things that I teach in class and connect them to what happens outside of the classroom around us. I like to start my lectures with interesting news headlines or neat articles that relate back to the topic of the day. I teach BIOL 200 (Fundamentals of Cell Biology), so right now with the COVID-19 pandemic it is exciting to point out that even seemingly simple concepts (like the formation of protein-protein interactions) can be extremely useful. An example of an ‘Aha!’ moment came when we looked at the interactions between the human ACE2 protein with the viral spike protein this term to understand how COVID-19 infections can take place.
An additional perk is that I get to interact with so many students! Some of my former students are now very good friends of mine.
How would you describe your teaching style?
In my opinion, the best way to learn is to problem-solve by working/discussing in groups. There’s something very special about being able to tackle a problem by tapping into the collective knowledge with a group of peers. Thus, my teaching style is that I assume a facilitator role in student learning: I am there to help scaffold what students already know as part of their prior knowledge, and to create new perspectives. (I also think it’s absolutely OK to make mistakes – we learn best by correcting mistakes, after all. My philosophy is that the most important thing is to try at the very least.)
What do you like to do in your spare time?
To maintain an optimal work-life balance, I turn to reading, running, and knitting to keep me healthy and sane. I love board games too, and am always on the lookout to try new ones.