Candidate for President-Elect:
Michael O'Donnell

Department of Biology
Trinity College
Hartford, CT 06106-3100
phone 860-297-2228

Education

B.S. in Zoology, University of Rhode Island, 1978
Twos in renal physiology research at the Philadelphia V.A. Hospital
M.S. in Environmental and Forest Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), 1984.

Present Academic Position

My position is Principal Lecturer/Laboratory Coordinator in the Biology Department at Trinity College. I coordinate the lecture and lab parts of our two team-taught introductory biology (mixed majors) courses. In addition to coordination and curriculum development, my responsibilities include some lecturing in the courses, and teaching several lab sections. I am also a member of our Environmental Sciences Program, and a member of the steering committee for the college’s field station. I occasionally teach an urban wildlife ecology course for non-science majors, and direct Trinity College’s “Challenge Program,” a summer bridge program for incoming students.

ABLE Activities/Service

I have been a member of ABLE since 1988 and have attended all but one conference since 1989. I was elected and served two terms as ABLE Secretary from 1996-2000. Being co-editor of Volume 5 of the ABLE proceedings gave me the “editor’s bug,” and I have served as Proceedings Editor from 2001 to the present.

Personal Statement

I have gotten so much out of ABLE -- most notably ideas for the teaching laboratory, but more importantly, from having met so many creative people who have given me motivation, advice, and the knowledge that I am not alone in what I do. The NSF has said that, “teaching is a scholarly activity, benefiting from research, collective experience, and critical thinking throughout.” They were talking about ABLE, which helps us all in our scholarly pursuit of teaching. Like most, if not all of us, I return from the annual ABLE conference each year filled with many ideas to improve our introductory biology labs, but, more importantly, I return energized and inspired by the many dedicated, creative ABLE members I talk with at the conference. I cannot imagine the hole in my professional and personal life that would exist if ABLE did not exist, and so I would like to continue to help maintain the vitality of this organization. As president I would work with the Board and ABLE membership to continue our efforts at increasing ABLE’s visibility, strengthening beneficial relationships with other educational organizations, and promoting ABLE’s mission of helping educators develop valuable laboratory experiences. ABLE does face some challenges, and I see one of the roles of the president as fostering communication and increasing participation by ABLE membership to creatively face these challenges. We need more people getting involved, especially those relatively new members. ABLE should stay committed to its focus of hands-on laboratory activities, but I would also like to see the organization facilitate discussions on other teaching laboratory issues such as curriculum development, student writing, statistical analysis, and coordination of lab with lecture.