Melanie Peffer - Biology Everywhere: How the science of life matters to everyday life

Biology Everywhere

HOW THE SCIENCE OF LIFE MATTERS TO EVERYDAY LIFE

Melanie E. Peffer, PhD

MKPEF4

Greeley, CO

TESTIMONIALS FOR BIOLOGY EVERYWHERE

B iology Everywhere takes a unique approach to connecting biology content with common experiences most people will likely share. The content is easy to understand and takes the reader on a fascinating personal journey into the sometimes unexpected ways we interact with biology on a daily basis. - Dr. Kristy Daniel, Associate Professor Department of Biology, Texas State University

I love how Dr. Peffer integrates science with common, everyday topics of interest to the average person. She really accomplishes her goal of making science less academic and scary and much more approachable and digestible. Scientific literacy is one of the most important issues for our society, and this book will go a long way in addressing that important topic. I will absolutely be recommending this book for my students and their families . -Mandy Revak, KidScience and ZooU Coordinator Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium

Biology Everywhere shows the reader that biology is quite the opposite of difficult to understand. Filled with relatable stories from the history of biology, along with personal and funny anecdotes, the book makes biology easy, directly relevant, and accessible to anyone. Packed with information, Dr. Peffer takes questions and scenarios we encounter in daily life and turns them into the fodder for biological explanations, never failing to draw the reader in. Anyone can read and learn from this book, from young adults to experts in biology. -Dr. Jennifer Knight, Associate Professor Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology University of Colorado Boulder

Copyright 2020 by Melanie E. Peffer, PhD.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying form without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author.

Biology Everywhere/MKPEF4

Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.

Biology Everywhere/Melanie E. Peffer, PhD -1st ed.

LCCN: 2020902960

ISBN Hardcover Edition: 978-1-7346531-0-6 ISBN

Softcover Edition: 978-1-7346531-2-0 ISBN

Ebook Edition: 978-1-7346531-1-3

To Felix, the light of my life.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am enormously grateful for the support of so many friends, family members, students, and colleagues in the creation of Biology Everywhere. First off, Id like to thank my husband, Kevin, for his unwavering support of this project and of my career and for listening to all of my biology everywhere anecdotes over the last 15 years. I also want to thank him for reviewing and editing so many things Ive written, from high school biology essays to what Ive written now. Thank you to Franklin Taggart at the Larimer Small Business Development Center for initially suggesting I turn my ideas into a book. I am indebted to all of my students, in particular the students who took non-STEM majors biology with me, for the candid discussions about their prior experiences in science classes and what works for them, and for all of the students who reached out at the end of the semester to say that it was my class that made all of the difference to changing their mind about science and biology. Thank you for giving me the confidence to share this approach of teaching biology to the world. Im grateful to all of my colleagues who spent time sharing resources, reading drafts, and advising me on the content of this book. A special thank you goes to Kalyn Garcia (Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center), Dr. Jonathan Weinbaum (Southern Connecticut State University), Dr. Amy Keagy (University of North Florida), Dr. Sara Adkins (University of Alabama at Birmingham), Mandy Revak (Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium), Dr. Shirley Smithson, Dr. Jennifer Knight (University of Colorado), Dr. Tom McCabe (University of Texas at El Paso), Dr. Kristy Daniel (Texas State University), Dr. Yaping Moshier, Dr. Brian Donovan (Biological Sciences Curriculum Studies), Stephanie Daniel, and David Merrill (Thirsties). Id also like to thank my seventh-grade English teacher, Mrs. Bolthuis, who gave me the best piece of writing advice Ive ever received that I pass on to my students: just write; worry about editing later. Without this advice, neither this book nor any of my other works would have been written. To my teaching mentor, Dr. Jacalyn Newman, thank you for encouraging me to teach biology and especially to teach it creatively. Thank you to Frances Rabon (The Doula Mommy) for the headshot found at the end of this book. To my parents, thank you for instilling the love of science and creativity in me. Finally, Id like to thank my copyeditor, Shelley Widhalm, and book designer, Colin Graham, for their help turning my thoughts and ideas into a marketable product.

FOREWORD

I have been an educator for more than 20 years and still feel passionate about helping others learn. Perhaps amusingly, I didnt really know I had that passion until after I already had a job as a biology professor. I knew I loved science of all sorts, and especially anything about the brain; accordingly, my undergraduate degree and PhD are both in neuroscience. I made it all the way through my PhD program and several years of my postdoctoral appointment before I realized that working in a lab, no matter how much I enjoyed thinking about science, didnt quite work for me. I wanted to spend time talking to others about lots of different topics in biology rather than spending long hours looking through a microscope or running gels. So, I made the most logical shift I could think of, which was teaching. I had almost zero preparation, aside from being a teaching assistant for one semester in graduate school, which, although beginning to change, is still typical for most scientists. Thus, it was quite challenging for me to figure out how to educate others, even on subjects I found fascinating, because Id never really thought about how to communicate to students who didnt have as much preparation as I did. Luckily, it also immediately felt exciting and worthwhile. Soon, I became interested in why students struggled so much in learning biology, and I began a different kind of research career that has involved merging my love of science and my belief that we need to make fundamental changes in the way we engage students.