People
Dr. Kale Hartmann
Lecturer in Biology
Director of Biology Postdoctoral Associate Teaching Scholar Program
I serve as a Lecturer in Biology and as the Director of the Postdoctoral Associate Teaching Scholars (PATS) Program at Boston University. I am dedicated to inspiring the next generation of scientists through my teaching, mentoring, and advising. I obtained a Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served as a Postdoctoral Curriculum Fellow in the Genetics Department at Harvard Medical School, developing expertise in curriculum design and science education. At Boston University, I teach a range of courses, including Introductory Biology, Cell Biology, Genetics, and Teaching Training courses. Outside of biology, I love rock climbing and cuddling with my two kitties, Louie and Cappy, and pup, Decaf.
Dr. Anna Redhuis
I am an evolutionary biologist broadly interested in the ways that genetics influences how we respond to our environment. For my postdoc research in the Wunderlich lab, I am studying the molecular signaling pathways that fruit flies use during embryonic development and immune system challenges. My favorite topics to teach are genetics and computational biology. I love designing active learning projects that help students connect to big concepts in biology. In my spare time I like farming, being near farms, and playing farm-themed video games. After my postdoc, I would like to be a professor at a primarily undergraduate institution.
Dr. Sam Kubica
I got my PhD from the University of California Riverside where I studied the evolution of mammalian vertebral columns. At Boston University, I’m currently studying the population genetics of tortoise beetles in the Strickland Lab. I typically teach anatomy and physiology, organismal biology, or evolutionary biology, but my favorite class to teach is Mammalogy. My favorite part of teaching is watching students understand new concepts or the research process better. After the PATS fellowship, I would like to be a professor at a liberal arts college.
Dr. Ayala Berger
I am broadly interested in “beauty” and the evolution of elaborate traits and communication. Specifically, I am interested in the intersections between animal signals, and in how the environment and other sources of selection shape signal evolution. I completed my PhD at University of California, Riverside where my research was on Anna’s and Costa’s hummingbirds’ acoustic courtship displays. I have since dove from the air into the sea, and am currently researching the diversity of acoustic communication in fish species. I am also passionate about outreach and teaching centered around natural history. I love both teaching and research and am particularly excited by how people think about and engage with concepts and material. I currently am teaching marine biology and have taught animal behavior, terrestrial zoology, ornithology, introduction to biology, evolution, and ecology in the past. I feel so lucky to be able to continuously learn both in the classroom and in the lab. When I am not listening to animal sounds or teaching, I enjoy swimming, playing chamber music, exploring outdoors, photography, and befriending dogs.
Dr. Evelyn Pain
I am a biological anthropologist by training and my current research focuses on the conservation and high-altitude adaptations of the critically endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Peru. I did my Ph.D. at Stony Brook University and am now working in the SMAGL lab with Dr. Christopher Schmitt. I primarily teach behavioral biology and have enjoyed incorporating hands-on behavioral data collection into the course. I also developed a course on behavioral endocrinology which I am hoping to teach again next year.