Why would a scientist want to teach?
Abstractly, the intellectual challenge is to present biology as a unified view of the world, and as an ongoing process of inquiry. This view includes presenting “big pictures” of such diverse concepts as ecology, evolution, physiology and molecular biology. However, even more important is to guide the students toward an understanding of the connections between each of these disciplines. The students are more likely to remember these connections than the specific facts of any one topic. In addition, there is the challenge of teaching students to think skeptically, like a scientist, through the scientific method. On a personal level, teaching can be tremendously satisfying for the academic and personal effects that a teacher can have on the development of a student. The simple fact that they have done science gives any scientist-teacher a number of unique advantages. First, being a participant of the discipline of biology, a scientist brings a certain enthusiasm for the subject that will
