Faculty

My high school English teacher returned my first poem with the words, “Promise me you’ll be a writer.” That comment, the extra time she took to meet with me, and the enthusiasm we shared has kept me enthralled with the possibility of helping people through well-placed words, through poetry. I strive to encourage writers and creative thinkers at St. Mark’s as my teacher inspired me.

I have always been keen on camping, hiking, and the outdoors, and these interests influence my perception of reality as “my big world.” Physics endeavors to understand an even bigger world in a particularly insightful way, and environmental sciences illuminate mankind’s role in altering or preserving that world. It is crucial for students to know how to understand and use science beyond the walls of their classroom, so I believe the best science education brings students from a theoretical understanding to a hands-on interaction that shows them they can make a tangible difference in their “big world.” Students may learn about energy and electric current in the classroom and lab, but when they use it to power the St. Mark’s solar-electric truck in competition, they see the complex interactions of the “big world” in action.

“Men do heartily wrong themselves when they refuse to be present in all ages, and neglect to see the beauty of all kingdoms, and busy themselves only with things at home.” This reflection, by the 17th century English writer Thomas Traherne, touches on my aims and on my pleasures as a teacher. The photograph above points to my love of travel; it was taken not far from the university in West Africa where I taught American studies several years ago. I like to approach literary works from past centuries as another kind of travel, one that gives us an opportunity to encounter ways of thinking that are now vanished. I believe that students enjoy the challenges of broadening their own horizons; in doing so they gain an understanding of themselves, their own time and place that cannot be gotten if they remain “busy at home.”

I enjoy many aspects of my work at St. Mark’s, but none more than coaching the girls’ varsity crew. Properly executed, the rowing stroke is fluid, natural, and efficient. Thus coaching is largely a matter of removing impediments, progressively improving a series of movements that rowers are equipped and motivated to perfect. It is my favorite form of teaching.

If there is a logical intersection between disciplines, it is the arts. My special interest is the woodcut, a relief printmaking method characterized by its directness and rich tradition. For me, the knife is a drawing tool that cuts, scratches, divides, and alters surfaces. I am interested in wetlands and ocean circulation, which present this and future generations with difficult issues of sustainability. I feel it is important for all of us to learn to see critically and to ask the sort of questions through our work that uncover new ideas and an urgency to pursue them.