I teach students to focus on the choices made in the prioritization of information used to define and resolve policy problems and how these choices reflect value systems about who should benefit in resource distributions and who should be left behind. I encourage students to think critically about their frames of reference, understand politics as a necessary and desirable attribute of a healthy democracy, and to aim for the higher order goal of human dignity.

Graduate Level Teaching

At the graduate level, I encourage students to take responsibility for their claims to expertise as learned person and their implicit or explicit interest in influencing political processes. My courses are structured around the principles of problem orientation and students taught to consider the social context in making sense decisions and outcomes.

I teach primarily about the interface of science and politics for the Masters of Coastal and Ocean Policy.

Undergraduate Level Teaching

At the undergraduate level, I teach basic principles of analyzing social problems and practices in empathetic listening and engaging, and use diversity and inclusion exercises as an instructional tool about personal values and in turn, political conflict. I require students to improve articulation of their opinions and encourage them to develop a deeper understanding of their opinions by considering the life experiences that shape them.