Faculty Directory

Interview with Paul Przybylowicz

Recent Teaching History
Lichens and Asomycetes; Spring 2001
Soil Microbial Ecology; Winter 2001
Mushroom, Culture and History; Fall 2000
Shelter: Eco-Design in the Real World; 1999-2000
Introduction to Natural Sciences (INS); Fall 1998 - Winter 1999
Ecological Agriculture; Spring 1998
Glaciers to the Sound; Fall 1997 - Winter 1998
BioGeochemistry; Spring 1997
Foundations of Natural Sciences; Fall 1996 - Winter 1997
Biogeochemistry; Spring 1996
Geographic Information Systems; Fall 1995 - Winter 1996

Recent and Current Areas of Interest

I’d have to say it is multi-faceted. I teach a wide range of different sciences, but the first thing that comes to mind about the center of my teaching is clear communication. I think it is really easy to bury and overwhelm students with information when you are teaching hard sciences. I use a lot of different techniques and am always experimenting to try to establish a strong two-way interaction between the students and myself so that if what I am doing isn’t working they feel comfortable letting me know what is happening for them.

I am really interested in the question of whether you can teach science in the context of "real life." All of the science faculty came through a science system that creates specialists: one specialized in one area to the neglect of most other disciplines. I try to take a more holistic approach and I consider this one of my areas of research because I’m always trying different approaches.

In terms of a disciplinary question, the area that really turns my crank is what is happening in the soil and how chemistry is the language of ecology. Understanding chemistry and how things interact is just mind blowing. It is fascinating that at the bottom line, it is chemistry. So I am interested in soils, bacteria, fungi, and plants and the intersection between those organisms. I have a particular fondness for lower plants because they are somewhere in between the bacteria and the fungi and what most people think of as plants. I am trying to understand the processes and connections by which all these organisms interact. This is reflected in my CV and the list of courses I have taught here, and the position that I applied for, environmental generalist. I think this breadth is totally germane and important to understanding what is going on in the soil because it is the intersection of all these different worlds, plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, atmospheric chemistry, geology, hydrology. It is one of the critical places where that old saw about ecology "that everything is connected to everything else" actually happens. There are real physical chemical connections; you can find them; they are there. I am fascinated by the fact that soil is an opaque medium so the very act of trying to look at something changes it - so it is challenging. And I like challenges.

At the center of my teaching philosophy is the idea of challenge. I try to incorporate physical challenge and the opportunity for students to stretch in that sort of way because I think it makes for a really good learning model. I can set up situations where students learn skills and group skills to overcome physical obstacles, for example in a ropes course. These exercises are little model situations for life. Here’s a little problem. Here is what you have to do. Here are the resources you have in terms of people. And the students solve it. These skills and the small feelings of success can blossom within the students as they see the same kinds of interactions they needed to climb over a twelve foot wall together can be use to figure out stoichiometry in chemistry with the same four people. So I think challenge in that way is important. And at a personal level, it takes me to new places. It is an important personal growth experience to become good friends with my fear and get comfortable with that. I use fear. Fear for me is like this little motor that is running and it warms me and I see that it is there and there are times that it overwhelms me, but it also really sharpens my senses. Because it tells me don’t screw up here, the consequences could be very serious. So for me being afraid is a part of being humble, recognizing that that is in all of us. I think it helps me with my students, they are afraid of different things, but that is OK, you just have to learn not to let it overwhelm you.

My teaching is a blend of growth process and a great deal of information; I tend not to separate them very much. I think it is really important not to separate them. I think the most important thing I teach the students is not the informational facts and figures, but more to create a confidence on their part that they have the ability to get the right information and the right processes. To that end I make sure that my teaching style is to hold them just below the point of panic. It is key to this style that the communication is clear, because where I am holding them, they are going to go over and they are going to have to tell me "We’re drowning! We’re panicking! Slow down!!"

Are there particular authors/artists/thinkers whose work you are interested in and which you often ask students to examine?

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk has been influential in just an open-minded approach to interaction and life – the world experience in general. This helps in developing a kind of attitude towards just being, learning, and interacting and getting my ego out of the way. Also Vipassana meditation and Goenka have been really important in developing the kind of center I need in order to do the kind of teaching I do. It allows me to hear what others are saying and not pick up the baggage that is coming along with the concern. I am at least sometimes able to see the gifts of anger and frustration and say "no thanks."

In terms of important bodies of work in science, I don’t think there is any one book, but the whole science of biogeochemistry is a really important thing for students to have, because it is that place where biology, chemistry, geology, ecology all intersect. If chemistry is the language of ecology, then biogeochemistry is the literature that has been written in that language. It is a relatively new discipline. Teaching this has been really rewarding, because it has allowed student to see that this is how all that "everything is related to everything" stuff really works. It is the integrated nature of all this that make it so interesting.

On other piece of work that has been really interesting to me recently has been William Cronon’s book Uncommon Ground. These essays have really been provoking and interesting to me. Cronon’s essay has really pushed some of my buttons and made me realize how we are managing wilderness. It doesn’t change what I get from wilderness, but it helps me see it differently.

Are there specific areas of interest or issues you want to work with students on in the current year?

Studies of lichens, although I am cautious of taking on students who haven’t worked with me before. Applications of chemistry to ecology like bioremediation, indeed, any intersection of ecology and chemistry is hard to turn down. And of course I like fungal things.

Specific Skills, Competence, Techniques:

Data analysis/statistics/spread sheet use/technical writing/library research/observation/surveying/applied mathematics. Perhaps the most important skill is creating frameworks for information. Another thing that I teach is a kind of applied problem solving. In this students have a problem and they use some of these other skills to go and get some information and techniques they hope will solve the problem. They use them and modify them. Go back and get some more information and techniques. Until they have a real solution to the original problem that works and they are confident in. What I try to teach in the more advanced classes is a confidence in their ability to go through this process. I used a lot of these skills when I worked as a consultant. An underlying theme that I try to convey is a comfort with numbers.

What are key qualities you look for in student work? What techniques you use to assess their work? How do you help students assess their work?

Clear communication is the first one. Can they express themselves clearly in a way that isn’t burdensome? After I have looked at how they say what they are saying, I look at what they are saying. I ask to what depth do they understand the material. Do they just have the general concepts? Are they able to support their views of the general concepts with detailed examples of things? The top level of understanding is " Are they able to creatively use that information to solve problems not directly in that field or specific to the area we were investigating, but to draw on that and other material to create integrated solutions to problems?" It is a non-straightforward applications step. I look at the effort expended and where they started and where they ended up. My expectations for students who come in with a lot of background are much higher than for those who come in without the background. I do intake surveys so I have a general idea where they are starting. I help students see where they are going by giving them weekly study questions that push them into new perspectives. These are discussed in groups. I try to avoid situations where students are comparing themselves with one another. I give exams, sometimes I write scores on the exams and sometimes I don’t. Lately I have been leaning towards not- because it makes the comparisons too easy. I write summary comments. A great deal of their self assessment has to come out of their work with their study groups. I try to build strong groups by using ropes courses to develop some skills that transfer from the physical to the intellectual. Students tend to believe it is really hokey at first, but the study groups and the interactions, and the ability to speak their minds to one another that came out of that experience have transferred very well into hard science study groups.

Teaching Style:How would you characterize yourself as a teacher?

Intense. I have pretty high expectations of myself as a teacher and I also have pretty high expectations of my students. I also like to have fun. I really love fun - that enthusiasm for the subject matter. I would have to say I am pretty enthusiastic. I am genuinely engaged and involved with them. I am detail oriented. I like to look at the big picture, but I love to illustrate it with detailed examples of a subject. The congruencies between the big picture and the details are the stuff that totally amazes me.

What types of students tend to do well with you?

The types of students who tend to do well are motivated, are genuinely interested in the material, have good study skills and like to read. Students who ask a lot of questions and are willing to engage in the communication tend to do the best. Students who are willing to raise questions as soon as they don’t get it so their understanding can be addressed right then seem to have the broadest grasp of the material.

What types of students have a hard time with you?

The students who have trouble are the ones who aren’t really sure that this is what they want to learn right now. They are questioning that. I tend to go at a pace where they have to be committed from the first week or they are lost. If they are slackers, they are screwed.

What do your student evaluations say about the way you come across to students?

I am genuinely interested in their learning the material. That I am demanding. That I am willing to learn from them and incorporate their suggestions. I am enthusiastic. There are a number of students who say in their evaluations that I am one of the best faculty they have ever had. I am pretty approachable. I am organized and that I create frameworks for putting information in. I see that as my work in lecture to create the frameworks for putting all those details in. Sometimes I seem unapproachable because I am so intensely focused on something. That I give them too much information and they are overwhelmed. The most common complaint is that I try to cover too much.

Expectations about Contracts, Internships, and EvaluationsWhat qualities do you look for in a student who comes to you for work in a contract?

I look for self-motivated, organized students, who are able to submit work in a timely fashion. I am not interested in being a baby sitter. I tend to look at contracts as more of a collegial interaction.

What information do you want to see when a person comes to look for a contract?

I am looking for a well developed statement of what they want to accomplish, what they are hoping to get out of their contract, their goals in terms of skills and experiences. Then I want to see what they want to do. I don’t respond well to students who say I want to go do this because it sounds cool or whatever. Students who have a good idea of the skills they are going to get and how that is going to help them out is what is critical. If I haven’t had a student I will ask for on campus references. The first question I will ask those references is do they work hard, do they slack?

Other:

I think that having a good time, having fun and maintaining a sense of humor through the whole experience is the most important thing. If you’re not having fun, what’s the point? In a classroom the fun is constrained because it is a situation that is set up to facilitate acquisition of knowledge and skills for learning. We can do that and still have fun. But if a student's idea of having fun just involves smoking pot, partying and not doing much else, I try to scare them off the first day.

Interviewer: Matt Smith