Reflections From a Network Exchange Participant - Bob Montgomery

It was a real honor to be selected as the inaugural CIRTL Network Exchange candidate. As a graduate student and Future Academic Scholar in Teaching (FAST) Fellow at Michigan State University I had been looking forward to the network exchange for the entire academic year. The exchange provided me with the opportunity to visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I interacted with colleagues within my disciplinary unit (the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology) as well as TAR colleagues who came from units all across campus.

My visit began with a breakfast meeting with members of CIRTL and the Delta program at the fantastic Science House. Directly thereafter I gave a teaching demonstration in Dr. Tim Van Deelen’s Population Dynamics course in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. Dr. Van Deelen has a fantastic group of upper level undergraduate and graduate students who were very attentive, interested, and invested in the subject matter. Following my teaching demonstration I had a series of meetings with faculty members and graduate students from the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. That same evening I met with Bob Mathieu, Robin Greenler, Steve Ackerman, and several of the Delta Interns for a delicious dinner. This proved to be a great opportunity to relate to fellow graduate students and highlight the commonalities and differences between the FAST fellowship and the Delta internship.

Tuesday was a packed day. It started at 8:15am when Brian Manske graciously agreed to pick me up from my hotel and deposit me in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. At 9am I gave my disciplinary research presentation in the department. I presented in the 2^nd floor library where books, trinkets, and tools belonging to Aldo Leopold are stored. There was a really nice turn out and I received some excellent feedback in regard to my presentation.  Afterward I had several additional meetings with faculty members, and before I knew it, it was noon and I was all set to give my TAR presentation. Carie was kind enough to record my talk which can now be viewed on the CIRTL website.

My day ended with Carie giving me a lift to the airport for my return to East Lansing. Thanks to Bob, Brian, Carie, Robin, Steve, Don, Chris and everyone else who helped to organize, facilitate, and participate in my network exchange. I had a most enjoyable time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and look forward to future correspondence!