Starting in August 2021, I have been at Queens College, City University of New York, where my lab includes graduate students and other personnel. Prior to that (starting in 2012), I was at National University of Singapore, where most of my lab members were students doing their final-year (honours) projects for the Bachelors of Environmental Studies (BES) and Life Sciences degrees. But I also supervised students for their: Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Science (UROPS), Master of Environmental Management and Tropimundo Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems.

As for my approach… I know some supervisors prefer to give their students projects that they conceptualise for them (sometimes complete with protocols), but I do not necessarily take that route. Students in my lab can create their own projects or tackle one of my ideas.

Either way, they at least contribute in a big way to developing their questions and designing their studies, because to me, the main learning outcome from a student research project is an enhanced ability to think creatively, critically and independently about a line of enquiry (and see it through from start to finish).

At regular lab meetings, students openly discuss how their work was going. I encourage them to help and support one another in all aspects of their projects. This way they don’t work alone in the field and they engage in peer coaching and acquire knowledge and skills in areas outside their topics.

Click the links below to read about work by my current and former lab members.