Research Interests
I am the Principle Investigator for the Research on Ecology and Evolution Education for Action and Change (RE3ACH) lab. My lab engages in biology education research and focuses on how biology students develop into resilient, creative, and competent scientific researchers in ecology and evolutionary biology and STEM more broadly. My primary research interests span three themes. I investigate 1) how biology students cope with the challenges and failures they encounter in scientific research and how they develop their ability to respond productively to challenges to make progress on a research project, and ultimately, to persist in their scientific endeavors, 2) how biology students develop creativity withing biology contexts and specifically how engaging them in the process of iterative design, whether it be design of an experiment, a potential new product, or a land management plan, can help them to develop knowledge and skills associated with creativity, such as divergent thinking, idea generation, and deeper understanding of the links between form and function, and 3) how involving students in place-based culturally relevant research experiences influences their likelihood to engage and persist in biology - and specifically ecology - endeavors. These research themes stem from my long-time interest in how society address broad ecological and environmental problems, such as climate change, and how we, as educators, can foster a new generation of resilient, creative, and passionate scientists equiped to tackle these broad and complicated issues.
Selected Publications
Corwin LA, Runyon C, Robinson A, Dolan EL. 2015. The Lab Course Assessment Survey: A tool to measure three dimensions of research-course design. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 14, ar37 1-11.
Corwin LA, Graham MJ, and Dolan EL. 2015. Modeling Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences: An agenda for future research and evaluation. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 14, es1 1-13.
Corwin Auchincloss L, Laursen SL, Branchaw JL, Eagan K, Graham M, Hanauer DI, Lawrie G, McLinn C, Palaez N, Rowland S, Towns M, Trautmann NM, Varma-Nelson P, Weston TJ, and Dolan EL. 2014. Assessment of course-based undergraduate research experiences: A meeting report. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 13, 29-40.
Des Marais DL, Auchincloss LC, Sukamtoh E, McKay JK, Logan T, Richards JH, and Juenger TE. 2014. Natural variation at MPK12 underlies water use efficiency differences in Arabidopsis thaliana and reveals a pleiotropic link between guard cell size and ABA response. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 2836-2841.
Auchincloss LC, Easlon HM, Levine D, Donovan L, and Richards JH. 2014. Pre‐dawn stomatal opening does not substantially enhance early‐morning photosynthesis in Helianthus annus. Plant, Cell & Environment, 37, 1364-1370.
Auchincloss LC, Richards JH, Young C, and Tansey M. 2012. Inundation depth, duration, and temperature influence Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) growth and survival. Western North American Naturalist, 72, 323-333.