Instructor Robert Dillon is a regular fixture at AC’s Science Enrichment Center.

The Biology Department at Amarillo College would seem to have put its own twist on the process of evolution.

No fewer than eight former AC students have evolved to fill meaningful roles on the present-day biology faculty.

Dr. Claudie Biggers, department chair, attributes the upsurge in homegrown teaching talent to an increase in research opportunities available to students of biology at AC.

“I think we have so many of our former students on the faculty here today because they had the opportunity to experience some unique research opportunities at AC,” Biggers said.

“This sparked their enthusiasm not only for teaching, but for teaching right here at AC, and that’s to our benefit,” she said. “Now we have another group of enthusiastic faculty on board who can spark that same enthusiasm in another generation of students.”

While each of the students-turned-faculty took singular paths – to advanced degrees and back to AC – four have the Ceniza Biological Research field trip in common.

Part-time online instructors Mario Mireles and Dr. Christopher Adkins went on such a trip as students – a long weekend to Lake Travis for mock crime-scene investigations, botany and entomology field collections, and more – as did AC biology tutor Brittani Morales, and dual-credit instructor Vedran Krtalic.

“It was a great way to interact with faculty and get to see their interests in science and teaching outside the classroom,” Adkins said. “That research trip absolutely sparked and enhanced scientific curiosity in myself and others. It certainly strengthened my passion and interest in science.”

Dr. Jacob Price, instructor of biology, is another former student who credits research opportunities for leading him down a path not just to teaching, but to teaching at AC. Price, who began his College journey as a theater major, took a psychology class that got him interested in the brain, thus piquing his interest in biology. He swiftly made the switch.

“My teachers, especially Dr. (Robert) Bauman and Dr. (Dan) Porter recognized my enthusiasm and spurred my interest,” Price said. “Dr. Bauman invited me to work with pathogens and bacteria in his microbiology lab, and Dr. Porter asked me to work in the new biotechnology program.”

That led Price to a pair of degrees at West Texas A&M University and unexpected inclusion in a paid doctoral program at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center.

“I was at the AgriLife Center just to sit in on another student’s interview, to get an understanding of the process,” Price said. “During a lull, the interviewer asked me about my interests, so I told him about the biotechnology work I had done as a student at AC and he hired me on the spot.

“AC played a huge role in putting me on my path,” he said. “My joy of teaching was born here at AC, and that’s why I chose AC to do my teaching, a place where everybody loves learning and wants to pass it along.”

Instructor Robert Dillon, coordinator of both AC’s Science Enrichment Center and the Science Testing Center, was among the first student math tutors the College employed during the conceptual stages of what today is the Math Outreach Center. 

“To work side by side with your former teachers almost leaves you speechless,” Dillon said. “The transition from student to colleague is very humbling. Shoot, I still have a first edition of Dr. Bauman’s microbiology book and I treasure it; there have been many editions since.

“This is such a fantastic institution,” he said. “It’s great to be a part of it, to be back here participating in student success.”

Rounding out the octet of former AC students serving on the biology faculty are Dr. Ryan Hill and Stephanie Trigg-Smith. The latter’s academic journey at the College was not actually born in biology; she is a graduate of AC’s Respiratory Care Program, yet her favorite teacher at that time was Susan Burgoon, AC’s assistant professor of biology, who Trigg-Smith had for anatomy and physiology.

Now, with a couple of biology degrees from WT under her belt, Trigg-Smith is herself teaching A&P at AC.

“I think I love AC so much because the students are like me, all ages and backgrounds, many with children” Trigg-Smith said. “I was a teenage mother and my education took many twists and turns, but I finished in the end and always tell my students that if I could do it, they can do it.

“If a student drops my class, we make a plan on how they can get back on track,” she said. “We don’t just have students at AC, we make family.”

August 17, 2016