I have been the instructor of record for EEMB120: Introduction to Ecology, the department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, in summer 2020, spring 2021, and summer 2021. This course introduces the basics of ecological study and current research, by exposing students to: the levels of ecological organization, the connections between those levels, how to marshal mathematical models to assist in the study of nature, and the modern-day issues in ecology and conservation. These topics are contextualized by hearing about current research efforts from ecologists at UC Santa Barbara. Critically, I conclude the course with a Q&A session for my students with scientists from across the professional spectrum, including science writers and communicators, research scientists at non-profit organizations, academic scientists and educators, and more. In this way my students get real-life examples of "how to be a scientist" beyond the academia options directly visible to them within a research-focused university setting. We discuss how they are already scientists, and that there are many options beyond and including pursuing graduate study in ecology in their futures.

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As a teaching assistant (TA), I have worked within the Environmental Studies department at UC Santa Barbara, an undergraduate-serving department, with several professors from different fields.

• As a TA for "Wildlife in America" (ES108), I worked with Dr. Peter Alagona (environmental historian), primarily leading discussion sections on topics ranging from the extinctions of the Pleistocene megafauna, to today's demonization of coyotes and other predator species, to the future of rewilding efforts in conservation.

• As a TA for "Food, Agriculture, and the Environment" (ES149), I worked with Dr. Liz Carlisle (social scientist and geographer), again leading discussion sections with students on the history and formation of our modern day food system: the structures and events that shaped it, its pitfalls and many inequities, and the impacts of its history on society and the environment.