A GOOD TEACHER CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING BY NANCY ALEXANDER Liz Flaherty
Liz Flaherty, associate professor of wildlife ecology
and habitat management, was at a farmers market in West Lafayette a few years ago, buying the last quart of blueberries from a farm stand. She doesn’t recall exactly how she and the high school student who sold it to her got on the topic, but Flaherty mentioned picking her own blueberries while in Alaska for fieldwork. The student, Rachel Brummet, asked Flaherty what she did. “And when I told her I was a wildlife biologist, she said, ‘That was the field I was considering,’” Flaherty recalls. The professor gave Brummet her card and invited her to sit in on a lecture and lab. The student seized the opportunity and liked Flaherty’s hands-on approach to teaching. Thanks, in part, to blueberries, Brummet is now a senior majoring in wildlife and forestry at Purdue, one among thousands of students whose lives have been shaped by the lecturers, mentors, researchers and Extension specialists who comprise the College of Agriculture faculty — in various roles, its teachers. 6
ENVISION • SPRING 2021
DIFFERENT ROADS TO SCHOLARSHIP The College of Agriculture equips its graduates to tackle 21st century challenges. At the heart of that effort is good teaching — the well-planned, intentional and pragmatic interaction between faculty and students that occurs in and out of classrooms and labs every day. “The College of Ag has always had a balanced approach to teaching,” says John Lumkes, assistant dean in the Office of Academic Programs. “Agriculture tends to have a holistic approach to what it means to be a faculty member,” he says, crediting the college’s focus on outreach since its inception as a landgrant university. “We understand there are different ways to show scholarship. Historically — and it continues to be our strength — we value multiple ways to have impact. Working with students is one of the big ones.” Agriculture faculty members tap professional organizations and networks around the world as well as a wealth of teaching resources on campus. In addition to college-specific training,
