Golick wins APLU innovative teaching award

Doug Golick
Doug Golick

by Gina Incontro - IANR Media

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Board on Agriculture Assembly Academic Programs Section has named Doug Golick, assistant professor of entomology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, a winner of its 2017 Innovative Teaching Award. The award is intended to strengthen innovation in the university-level teaching of agriculture and related fields.

Golick’s focus is on engaging undergraduates in citizen science with pollinators to enhance conservation knowledge, biological systems thinking and community engagement.

“We proposed to change introductory entomology lab courses where traditionally students learn how to identify insects, to also incorporate citizen science with pollinators,” said Golick, when asked about his group’s plans. “We want to engage students learning about insects by going out into the environment. A big part of this is that we are hoping students will get a better sense of how insects affect us globally and how we affect them. Another big part of this work is the community component. We will engage students with the community through collaborative citizen science projects. These activities will help them better connect the science they are learning to the community around them.”

Collaborators working with Golick on this initiative are Wyatt Hoback, assistant professor of entomology and plant pathology at Oklahoma State University, and Hartmut Doebel, assistant professor of biological sciences at George Washington University.

Winners of the award will share $3,000 that can be used to support institutional collaboration. The program encourages faculty to expand their teaching by working with experienced faculty from other institutions. They are encouraged to create projects and adopt new, innovative learning experiences for students. The money can be used for classroom aids, travel or other project needs.

“For junior faculty involved, this may be the first monetary award they receive, which, when combined with the mentoring by working with senior faculty on the project, should boost their abilities in the classroom,” said Wendy Fink, APLU director of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources.

The APLU board wants to continue to encourage involvement between institutions and increase innovative learning for students. The program increased the number of awards given this year, increasing the worth of awards to $33,000 compared with last year’s $10,000.