Welcome!
I am the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and a Professor of Biology at Truman State University. I started my academic career at Truman in 2006 as a Biology faculty member. Most of my recent scholarship has focused on issues related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) major recruitment and retention, particularly of students who from backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in successful STEM degree completion, including first-generation college students and rural students. Additionally, I have been active in working to understand how to improve transfer student success in STEM fields. My biology research has focused on embryonic development in Caenorhabditis elegans, and the use of C. elegans as a genetic model system for human biology, including cancer metastasis, wound healing, and spina bifida.