{"id":377,"date":"2020-01-02T10:56:23","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T17:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/bionews\/?p=377"},"modified":"2020-01-02T12:20:38","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T19:20:38","slug":"instructor-spotlight-amy-angert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/bionews\/2020\/01\/instructor-spotlight-amy-angert\/","title":{"rendered":"Instructor Spotlight – Amy Angert"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by: Elaine Simons Lane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amy Angert is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Botany and Zoology. She has an undergraduate degree in Biology from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in Plant Biology from Michigan State University. Prior to coming to UBC, she completed a Postdoc in Ecology and Evolution at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on the evolutionary ecology of species\u2019 geographic distributions.<\/p>\n

Amy has taught the following courses at UBC: Biology 406 (Plant Ecology), Biology 306 (Advanced Ecology), Biology 548m (Population Biology), and Botany 501.<\/p>\n

What do you enjoy most about being an Instructor?<\/em><\/h4>\n

I love when I can help open student\u2019s eyes to aspects of the natural world that are unfamiliar to them, and especially when I can convince them that plants are way more interesting than they might have first thought. I find that a lot of students first see plants as food or forage or habitat, but don\u2019t necessarily think of them as focal organisms in their own right, so I love to flip that around and challenge everyone to see the world from a plant\u2019s perspective, where the plant is central and animals are \u201cjust\u201d herbivores or pollinators.<\/p>\n

I also am thrilled when students become comfortable enough in the classroom to really dig in and engage with each other and the material – especially when small group activities get really loud because everyone is actively wrestling with concepts, challenging assumptions, or discussing their interpretations.<\/p>\n

How would you describe your teaching style?<\/em><\/h4>\n

I like to incorporate a mix of activities and I try to foster a friendly and casual environment so that students feel comfortable asking questions of me and each other.<\/p>\n

What is a memorable anecdote from your own undergraduate experience?<\/em><\/h4>\n

I always knew I liked scientific research and being outdoors, but somehow I never thought the two could be combined into one career. In my mind scientific research involved wearing a white coat and goggles at a bench, and outdoor activities were the stuff of hobbies. But in my second year I took a course on evolution in which the prof incorporated lots of current examples from his own lab group, with pictures (in a slide carousel\u2026 this was a while ago!) of them out and about collecting data in the Galapagos and the Bahamas. And I left class one day completely transformed – it literally changed my worldview and the course of my life to know that I could do scientific research, even manipulative experiments, out in natural systems.<\/p>\n

What do you like to do in your spare time?<\/em><\/h4>\n

I\u2019m an avid trail runner, though a knee injury has me sidelined at the moment. And I try to get my young kids outdoors exploring the natural world as often as possible.<\/p>\n

What is a fun fact about you that people may not know?<\/em><\/h4>\n

I started off my research career studying lizards. I spent 3 summers tromping around the Ozarks trying to sneak up on them and catch them with dental floss tied to a fishing pole. Plants are way easier!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amy Angert is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Botany and Zoology. She has an undergraduate degree in Biology from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in Plant Biology from Michigan State University. Prior to coming to UBC, she completed a Postdoc in Ecology and Evolution at the University of Arizona. Her … <\/p>\n

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