Research Philosophy
Scholarly activity is an essential part of my development as a faculty member. Since beginning my academic career I have done my best to find an adequate balance of time spent on course development and preparation as well as scholarship. Research and scholarship enhance my quality of teaching, faculty development, and contribution to student research. I can say with great certainty that research and scholarship will continue to be a critical part to my overall success as a faculty member. I believe I provide a significant contribution to the areas of scholarship of engagement/ application (practice) and scholarship of discovery (research).
Scholarship of Engagement/Application (practice)
One of the most favorable aspects of my research is the engagement of undergraduate students. Much of my scholarly activity is dedicated to undergraduate education, including that related to activities inside and outside the classroom. The “undergraduate research experience,” as I like to call it, is the key to cultivating and retaining student interest in the sciences. I believe that mentoring students in scientific research is a valuable and integral part of being a research active biologist. I fully embrace the idea that promoting the scientific method—the guidelines by which all scientific knowledge is discovered—is best demonstrated by active research and cannot be strictly confined to the classroom.
During my career, I have helped guide dozens of undergraduates through the undergraduate research process—researching a wide variety of topics including floristics surveys, plant ecology, woody plant inventories, and biodiversity inventories. My students have presented their research at departmental seminars, undergraduate research days, and regional scientific meetings of the Oklahoma Academy of Sciences and Beta Beta Beta (national biological honor society).
The biggest challenge to performing research in higher education is securing funding. I consider myself fortunate that my type of research doesn’t require profuse funds. Nonetheless I have been involved in securing over $7500.00 in outside grant funding and over $100,000.00 in gifts—now held in an endowed account that provides around $7000 annually in interest to support research in field biology and environment science at OCU.
During my career, I have helped guide dozens of undergraduates through the undergraduate research process—researching a wide variety of topics including floristics surveys, plant ecology, woody plant inventories, and biodiversity inventories. My students have presented their research at departmental seminars, undergraduate research days, and regional scientific meetings of the Oklahoma Academy of Sciences and Beta Beta Beta (national biological honor society).
The biggest challenge to performing research in higher education is securing funding. I consider myself fortunate that my type of research doesn’t require profuse funds. Nonetheless I have been involved in securing over $7500.00 in outside grant funding and over $100,000.00 in gifts—now held in an endowed account that provides around $7000 annually in interest to support research in field biology and environment science at OCU.
Scholarship of Discovery (research)
One of my most significant, and rewarding, areas of my scholarship and professional growth is in my contribution to scholarship of discovery (research). I believe the following excepts from my CV detail sufficiently my commitment to scholarship.
- published an article with one of our department’s outstanding undergraduate students (Crosswhite & Ryburn 2019),
- coordinating editor and lead author of the 2nd edition of the Flora of Oklahoma Keys and Descriptions (2018),
- co-authored a book (Flora of Oklahoma Keys and Descriptions, 2015),
- co-authored a book (Keys and Descriptions for the Vascular Flora of Oklahoma, 2011),
- published an article with one of our department’s outstanding undergraduate students (Jardine et al. 2016), and
- presented my scholarly activity at professional meetings. Recent examples include:
- The Vascular Flora of Roman Nose State Park. Oklahoma Academy of Science, 2016 Fall Field Meeting of the Oklahoma Academy of Science.
- The Native Fall Flora of Lake Wister State Park. Oklahoma Academy of Science, 2015 Fall Field Meeting of the Oklahoma Academy of Science.
- The Native Spring Flora of South Central Oklahoma. 37th Wildflower Workshop (2015) of the Oklahoma Native Plant Society.
- The Vascular Flora of Black Kettle National Grassland. BioBlitz! Oklahoma (2014).
