Education

• BS in Biology from Northeastern Oklahoma State University. M.Div Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN. MS in Zoology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL.
• Ph.D in Physiology from SIU School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL.

Academic Interests

The field of biology is extremely broad. It encompasses subjects as different as brain surgery, and mycology (the study of fungi). There are lots of interesting areas to study. Personally, I think that physiology is one of the most fascinating after all it is the processes of physiology that keep us alive, it is the basis of medicine.

Research

One way in which biology students at Bethany are encouraged to fulfill their potential is through a research project. One of my research interests is in the physiology of ion channels. I am currently working to understand an ion channel that exists in the skin of bullfrog tadpoles. Why do they have an ion channel in their skin and what is its purpose? Do humans also have this type of channel? Another area is in the mutation rate of mitochondrial DNA in some fish species, whether this mutation rate can be measured accurately, and does it provide a clock to measure things like when bottlenecks occurred in their population. I’m also very interested in the debate that rages currently between those who believe that God has created all of life, and those who believe that evolution is sufficient to account for life as it is currently found in our world.

Professional Memberships

American Physiological Society

Awards

• Deans Scholarship,
• Dissertation Research Award Fellowship

Service

I’m currently on the Board of Apologetics of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

Presentations/Publications

I’ve given presentations to various groups on everything from end of life issues to the evidence for special creation.

Teaching Philosophy

It is my job to take the massive amount of biological knowledge that is out there and to distill it down so that students are not inundated with too much information. The foundational parts of Biology are the most important for students to learn. It is my job to take these parts and organize them so that all of the marvelous complexity that exists within a living system is learnable. My goal is that students learn not only the basic information but also why that information is important and how it all fits together. I recognize that my students may be at different levels of understanding of the material. I try to present things in such a way that helps those who are struggling while challenging those who are not. Finally, I want to challenge students to become “problem solvers.” Learning the foundational “stuff” is great but it’s even better if students can apply their knowledge to solve puzzling issues. I believe that for scientific knowledge to be useful it should have practical applications so I design my upper level lab exercises to provide experience with techniques that employers are currently demanding.

Biography

My wife and I have three children, all grown and one grandson. We enjoy gardening and spending time with our family and friends. We are interested in the missions of the ELS, especially the orphanages in India.

Hobbies/Interests

Woodworking, fishing, golf