Teaching

I teach within the Department of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, where I specialise in graduate writing. In this role, I provide writing instruction and support, professional development training, and mental health and wellness support for graduate students.

I offer students the following:

Weekly writing camps: Students actively working on any writing can come together to write (guaranteed 4 hours).
One-on-one editing: Doctoral and master’s students can submit writing and work through three rounds of revision (structure, sentence-level clarity, transitions). I also provide a writing diagnostic, so lessons can be applied in future writing.
Media training workshop: What can scientists learn from journalists about communicating research? This workshop equips students with communication skills that translate directly into academic talks, application letters, and grant writing.
Press release editing & interview training: One-on-one editing support for press releases and training for media interviews.
Presentation and poster support: Feedback on organizing talks, improving storytelling, and finding one’s voice (including overcoming impostorism and voice training).

I previously taught evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto (EEB214, 2012–2020). My course introduced evolution to students majoring in the arts and explored how evolution shapes the diversity of life on Earth—from the evolution of parasites, predators, and prey to why organisms reproduce sexually and cooperate; and from how natural selection acts on us and our ancestors to how humans drive evolutionary change by altering the environment.

What people have said about EEB214:

“The course brightened up my Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I always looked forward to it. In fact, on days when I couldn’t attend class due to other commitments, I was so disappointed. Your demeanour makes you a pleasure to listen to lecture, and it is evident that you truly care about the success of your students. This course ended up being one of my absolute favourites of all my undergrad.” – Melissa Campoli, Engineering, University of Toronto (2018)

“I really enjoyed your class. It was actually one of the best and most informative classes I took in my undergrad. Thank you for sharing all the facts with us.” – Robin Nemesszeghy, Computer Science and Linguistics, University of Toronto (2017)

“They say in order to have mastered something, you should be able to teach it to someone else, and the prof and TA have done an extremely great job. Never have I seen a class so attentive.” – from University of Toronto student evaluations (2016)

“Jennifer was an engaging and interesting lecturer and made use of different media in her lectures to contribute to her explanation of course concepts, which I thought was both extremely helpful and indicative of her dedication to students’ understanding and taking away something substantial from the course.” – from University of Toronto student evaluations (2016)

Here are some more comments from past students.

Workshops

I teach scientists and journalists how to communicate complex ideas clearly, write persuasively, and speak effectively with audiences outside the scientific community. These workshops are highly participatory, involve extensive role-playing, and help participants overcome insecurities about their communication skills. I have taught undergraduates, postgraduates, and laboratory heads from a wide range of disciplines, including chemical engineering, applied chemistry, biology, genetics, archaeology, medicine, and journalism.

What people have said:

“The workshop and writing task have taught me a lot about science communication. I really enjoyed this type of work and will definitely try to pursue more opportunities in this field.” – Stephanie Lefebvre, University of Toronto

“I really enjoyed the workshop. I found it very insightful and found the exercises to be very useful.” – Janice Ting, University of Toronto

Speaking/interviewing

I’ve spoken on panels about women in science at international conference, chaired panel discussion at events such as Toronto’s

Science Festival and Science Rendezvous, and given public lectures about Darwin, evolution and the difficulties of communicating science to non-specialists.

If you’d like to invite me to speak at your festival or event, please get in touch.