Erica Suchman, Ph.D., will discuss
STEM teaching as the Larkin Endowed
Seminar speaker on April 3 at Kent State
University.

Kent State University’s Department of Biological Sciences will host Erica Suchman, Ph.D., as its Larkin Endowed Seminar speaker on April 3 at noon in Cunningham Hall, Room 101. Suchman will discuss STEM teaching in her presentation "Teaching Your Students to Think Like Microbiologists, Let Them Practice What You Preach." The seminar is free and open to the public.

Suchman is a professor in Colorado State University’s Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. A University Distinguished Teaching Scholar with a focus on microbiology, she is an internationally recognized expert and lecturer on using active learning techniques to foster critical thinking skills while teaching science in large lecture halls.

She served as the chairman of the Committee on Technology-enhanced Education for the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) and the editor-in-chief of the MicrobeLibrary, the American Society of Microbiology's Web-based, peer-reviewed education resource collection from 2003-2012. She also is a member of both the ASM Education Board and ASM committee on International Education.

After earning a B.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego in 1987, she received her Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of California, Irvine in 1994.

The Larkin Endowed Seminar Series honors the memory of Gary Larkin, Ph.D., and is supported by his generous bequest to the Department of Biological Sciences at Kent State. Larkin was an esteemed member of the faculty from 1968-1994. He dedicated his professional life to teaching microbiology to undergraduate students and was instrumental in developing the Medical Technology program, which he directed until his retirement. He served the department in many capacities, including serving as assistant department chair for more than 15 years. He also served as a part-time instructor and assistant chair after his retirement in 1994.

For more information about Kent State's Department of Biological Sciences, visit www.kent.edu/biology.