Teaching

Teaching Snapshot

• 12 students supervised across BSc, MSc, and PhD levels since 2023

• 5 courses developed  at Maastricht University (UM) and The University of Queensland (UQ)

• 1 new programme co-developed — contributions to the Sustainable Bioscience curriculum (UM)

• Student research from my courses has gone on to peer-reviewed publication

• Average student evaluation: 4.6/5

My Approach: Learning by Doing, on Problems That Matter

I teach from an interdisciplinary perspective because the problems my students will spend their careers on don't respect the boundaries of a single discipline, and neither should the classroom.

My teaching is built around an immersive Problem-Based Learning (PBL) design. PBL rests on four principles I try to make real in every course I run:

1.   Constructive learning — students build their own knowledge by reflecting on what they know and what they still need to find out.

2.   Contextual learning — students apply that knowledge to real, unresolved problems, not textbook exercises.

3.   Collaborative learning — students work together to pull problems apart and put them back together.

4.   Self-directed learning — students own their learning process rather than following a fixed script.

Learn more about PBL at Maastricht University →

I'm currently coordinating:

• Visualization and Data Storytelling (VSK2008, skills course)

• Sustainable Development — Human Impact on the Earth System (Sustainable Biosciences Programme)

• Research Project I (Sustainable Biosciences Programme)

• Research Project II (Sustainable Biosciences Programme)

• Ecosystem Services (Sustainable Biosciences Programme)

Explore the Sustainable Bioscience bachelor's programme →

Building Curriculum, Not Just Delivering It

Before joining Maastricht, I helped build Australia's first undergraduate and master's courses on Structured Decision Making, in the School of Environment at The University of Queensland — a field that didn't yet have a dedicated teaching home in Australian higher education, and one I believed conservation students urgently needed. That experience shaped how I think about teaching: the most valuable courses are often the ones that don't exist yet, and part of a lecturer's job is spotting the gap and building the bridge.

Teaching Through Research

I don't treat research and teaching as separate tracks. Every active case study in my lab started as a student's thesis, capstone, or PhD project. Students in my courses and my lab work on genuine open questions, from a global review of the drivers of decline in a threatened marine bivalve to a large-scale media analysis of how wolf conservation is portrayed across Europe. Several of these projects have gone on to peer-reviewed publication.

I supervise students at every stage, from bachelor's capstone projects to master's PhD theses, and I calibrate that supervision deliberately with close, structured advisement early on, growing independence and co-authorship as students progress.

See our current lab members and their projects →