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Maria Morrow

Maria Morrow

Biology/Ecology

BIOL-1: General Biology
BIOL-5: General Botany
BIOL-11: Symbiosis
BIOL-21: Mushrooms of the North Coast
ENVSC-10: Introduction to Environmental Science

In grad school, I studied fungal genetics and diseases of forest trees. Currently, I am surveying the fungal diversity of the north coast region.

Learning is about exploration. We should all be amazed at every waking moment at how bizarre and beautiful this planet is! I want my students to be able to think of and explore scientific questions to better understand the world around them. I want you to be actively engaged in wonder while simultaneously working hard to understand and puzzle out these systems. I want you to think creatively and logically at the same time! I also want you to feel safe exploring and understanding your own journey as we engage in this learning. My policies are: Be genuine, try hard, get to know yourself, and respect our learning community. And stop asking me if you can turn everything in late!

It is the interconnectedness, complexity, weirdness, and slimy beauty of life that really got me into biology and ecology. I love a good puzzle, bright colors, and crawling around in the dirt, so I was naturally drawn to fungi as a specialization. If you find more fulfillment in exploring the question than in finding the answer, ecology might be a good route for you!

I chose to teach at CR because I love it here. I went to HSU (now Cal Poly Humboldt) for my undergrad in botany and I fell in love with our many diverse and distinct biomes -- the coastal dunes, the foggy spruce forests, the serpentine hills, the marshes full of musical birds, and the many roving rivers. After working part time as an associate faculty, I then fell in love with the CR Biology Department and the amazing folks who work here. I have also found more than 200 fungal species in my backyard, so that is a huge plus.

My advice to students who want to be successful is -- be honest with yourself about how much work you can handle at one time -- science classes are a lot of work! You might encounter what feels like failure sometimes. Failure is a part of science, so learn to think of this as part of the process -- you are growing and learning and that is SO COOL! Lastly, use the resources available to you! Go to office hours, use the writing center, check out the free tutoring, take a walk in the woods, pet a therapy pup.

We can always be better people...better learners, better teachers, better community members, better global stewards. I like being part of a community of folks working toward bettering themselves and the world around them.

Science rules!

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