The professors in the MSEE program balance great passion and care for the planet with a belief that a divine Creator made the planet, and because one way God reveals his perfect design is through the natural world, it is imperative that we embrace both of those foundational beliefs in our program. Though we respect all belief systems, we believe that learning is most profound when it engages the heart, mind, and spirit.
DOTTIE SHUMAN
I teach Environmental Education because I don’t want anyone to miss the glory of our Lord in creation. It is important for me to open the eyes of my students, so that they can open the eyes of the people that they work with in the future!
My philosophy of teaching is based on the experiential learning model. I feel that students need to be introduced intellectually to the theories and concepts that they are learning, but students also need to have hands-on experiences available to experiment with concepts and ideas. Students are expected to be reflective about the experiences that they have so that they can improve upon and solidify their own theories and increase their understanding of the concepts.
I love teaching any class in which the students embrace new understanding in all realms: intellectually, physically, emotionally or spiritually.
After teaching at the University of Idaho in the Environmental Education and Interpretation program through the College of Forestry and Range Sciences, I arrived at Montreat College in 1996.
Degrees Earned:
Cortland State University, B.S. in Recreation with Nature Interpretation
Penn State University, M.S. in Recreation and Parks
University of Idaho, Ph.D. with a Concentration on Environmental Education
BRAD DANIEL
Currently, I teach in three different departments (Natural Science, Outdoor Education, and Bible and Religion) and four different degree programs (Biology, Environmental Studies, Outdoor Education, and Bible and Religion). I mention this because although I am passionate about each program, I am most passionate about helping students see the connections between different bodies of knowledge and to see the megatrends stemming from them. In my opinion, education has become too segmented into classes covering specific content. I want my students to see and to understand the interconnections.
Because I believe in the concept of lifelong learning, I take a class every semester in something. I’ve been teaching at Montreat since 1984, and my interests have broadened over my academic career from biology to ecology and environmental science to outdoor education and environmental studies.
I enjoy teaching all of my classes. I particularly enjoy those classes that allow me to challenge students to consider different perspectives.
Teaching is the art and craft of engaging the heart and mind in order to encourage the full realization of God-given potential. It extends beyond facts and figures. It is more than just mastery of content. It is the act of investing one’s life in students in order to encourage their mental, emotional, social and spiritual growth.
Degrees Earned:
Brevard College, Associate Degree in Arts
Appalachian State University, B.A. in Biology (Concentration on Ecology)
Appalachian State University, M.A. in Biology (Concentration on Environmental Science)
Northern Illinois University, M.S. in Outdoor/Environmental Education
Antioch University New England, Ph.D. in Environmental Studies
ANDREW BOBILYA
I teach Outdoor Education because experiences in the out-of-doors deeply impacted me as a young child and adult and because professors took an interest in me and cared about my growth. Because of these experiences as a student, I want to provide similarly for others.
Further, the need for outdoor education is even greater today than when I entered the field, and I want to help move our discipline forward through teaching and preparation of new educators and the research and publication of new knowledge. My approach to teaching has always been grounded in the assumption that the student is a “co-learner” in the educational enterprise and the philosophy of experiential education is foundational to my work as a teacher. I strive for my classroom to be a “learning community.”
Though I can’t claim to have a single favorite class, I enjoy our Certificate in Wilderness Leadership – Immersion Semester Program. To have a small group of 8-10 students who live in an intentional community for the entire semester and engage in leadership development and community outreach after having spent forty-five plus days of preparation in the backcountry … that’s a teacher’s dream come true! It is experiential education at its best!
Degrees Earned:
Montreat College, B.S. in Outdoor Recreation
Wheaton College, Summer Leadership School and Wilderness Leadership Practicum
Minnesota State University at Mankato, M.S. in Experiential Education
University of Minnesota, Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in Outdoor Education and Recreation
Additional Education:
National Outdoor Leadership School, 21-day sea kayak course
Colorado Outward Bound, 21-day multi-environment course
Wilderness Medicine Institute, Former WEMT and Current WFR
Wilderness Education Association, Pro Short Course
JIM SHORES
I teach environmental studies because I love God’s creation; it fascinates me, and I want others to experience this fascination. Also, I am very concerned that as Christians we take seriously our call to be good stewards of God’s creation. I want to help students get a vision for what that calling may specifically look like in their own lives.
My classes are fun and interactive, full of lively discussion. I’m a pretty expressive and passionate teacher. Also, I like to come at a topic from various viewpoints and disciplines, to try and make it interesting and relevant to a student’s life. We manage to barrel through a lot of content in my classes, and I expect my students to keep up, though I have no problem stopping and explaining concepts in several different ways until the class understands them.
Two classes I love to teach are Conservation Biology and Freshwater Ecosystems. In the first, we salute conservation heroes who dedicated their work to making sure a species didn’t disappear from the earth. In Freshwater Ecosystems, I love exploring freshwater organisms and their extraordinary habitats around the world. The lab associated with it takes us to cool habitats here in the mountains. Last fall we went to the rainiest spot on the East Coast and got completely soaked. We wound up spending some time sliding over a 30-foot waterfall in the pouring rain! A great memory!
I came to Montreat from Houston in 1997. I am a journalism professor and chair the Communication Department at the college, and I am an actor and a screenwriter as well.
Degrees Earned:
University of North Carolina, B.A. in Radio, Television, and Motion Pictures
University of North Carolina, M.S. in Environmental Science and Engineering
Regent University, Ph.D. in Communications Studies
BRIAN JOYCE
I have always been passionate about the outdoors. From an early age, I knew that I wanted to work in the woods. I began my education by studying forest resources management and, over time, my interests broadened and evolved to include scientific research in the area of tree physiological ecology. After being asked to teach a course during my doctoral studies, I realized that I was called to teach and share my passion for God’s creation with my students. Montreat College, where I have been since 1996, provides an ideal environment for me to do so. The challenge of teaching is to not only transmit knowledge to an audience, but to do so in a manner that encourages independent and critical thinking, that actively engages the student, and that makes a clear connection between the classroom and the real world. I’m rewarded when I see students reach the point where they can think independently and effectively.
In addition to teaching students the fundamental concepts of a particular course, my objectives as a teacher in the natural sciences include the following: (1) to help students develop critical thinking skills, (2) to help students develop problem solving skills, (3) to prepare students for a career, (4) to increase the students’ understanding and appreciation of God by increasing their understanding and appreciation of the world around them, (5) to help students develop their oral communication and technical writing skills.
I enjoy teaching Biometrics because statistics are so logical and “absolute.” The process of learning statistical analysis is very linear, which makes it straight-forward to teach. I also believe that an understanding of basic statistical analysis is necessary to make sense of our world today.
Degrees Earned:
Pennsylvania State University, B.S. in Forest Science
Pennsylvania State University, M.S. in Forest Resources Management
Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in Ecology
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