32
view . summer 2011
Whether in the classroom, Point Pelee National
Park or the rain forests of Costa Rica,
Dr. Daniel Mennill’s love for teaching is
apparent. His classroom presentations are
driven by his enthusiasm for the subject of
animal behaviour, ecology, and conservation.
What excites students the most is his passion
for creating hands-on learning opportunities.
His outstanding contributions have earned him
the Alumni Association’s prestigious
Alumni
Award for Distinguished Contribution to
University Teaching
.
Since arriving on campus in 2005, Mennill has built an
ornithology (study of birds) program from the ground up.
He has done so by engaging students at all levels of the
post-secondary learning spectrum, undergraduate through
to master’s students. He has designed three undergraduate
courses and two graduate courses, one of which takes
students on an intensive two-week field course on the Tropical
Ecology of Costa Rica. There, along with Professor Stephanie
Doucet, he provides a group of students with lessons that
will last a lifetime, involving hands-on studies of the flora
and fauna of many different ecosystems in the rain forest.
The proof of his talents as an educator is shown through
the success of his students. In the past six years, 10 of his
students have earned master’s degrees, with six of those
students now pursuing their PhD. A common theme chronicled
by students and faculty alike in the letters of support for
Mennill’s nomination was that “his enthusiasm is contagious.”
His energy and excitement for teaching is apparent in the
classroom, as one student wrote “He is an extremely
dynamic and energetic lecturer.”
Outside of the classroom, Mennill says he has a
responsibility to interact with the public providing teaching
opportunities that extend beyond the university campus.
Often, he has delivered public science seminars to naturalist
groups in Ontario and Michigan and has been a guest on the
CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks and As It Happens programs.
He is a three-time winner of the
Faculty of Science
Performance Award
as the top performing teacher across
all disciplines.
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES PROFESSOR TO RECEIVE
THE GOLD STANDARD IN UWINDSOR TEACHING AWARDS
