The Penny Bernstein Distinguished Teaching Award is one of the annual ABS career awards that recognize contributions to the field of animal behavior. Since the first recipient, Jane Brockman (1995), distinguished recipients have included, among others, Gail Michener (2000), John Alcock (2007), and Bill Eberhard (2009). This award specifically recognizes a sustained record of excellent teaching and innovation in the classroom or informal education setting (e.g., zoos, aquaria, museums, 4-H programs, research labs, field stations, environmental centers). Awardees are nominated by their peers and students.
As always, there were many highly qualified nominees in 2017. Among them, Susan Riechert stood out and was selected by the education committee. Susan is the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Distinguished Service Professor. To most of us, Susan is known for her work on game theory but she is a dedicated teacher and has been recognized with both the UTK Hesler Award for Excellence in Teaching and Service, and the Tennessee Science Teachers Association, 2010 Science Educator of the Year award. Susan is also director of both the “Biology in a Box”, Science Outreach Program, and the “VolsTeach” Dual Career Path Program. Biology in a Box offers science outreach to students in more than 100 school systems throughout Tennessee. Vols Teach is a program to get STEM majors to earn a minor in education and an opportunity to explore teaching as a career.
For all of this work, we are delighted to recognize Susan Riechert as the newest recipient of the Penny Bernstein Distinguished Teaching Award.
