UW Science Initiative Alumna Takes Post at Northwest College

Monia Haselhorst, a 2017 doctoral graduate of the University of Wyoming, recently was named the director of the new Teaching and Learning Center at Northwest College (NWC) in Powell.

Haselhorst completed her doctoral degree in the Program in Ecology under the guidance of Professor Alex Buerkle. She also began participating in the Science Initiative’s Learning Actively Mentoring Program (LAMP) in 2016. Through this program, Haselhorst gained immersive training in teaching and learning, particularly active learning.

While at UW, during the summers of 2016 and 2017, Haselhorst participated in LAMP’s yearlong educational development program. She gained expertise in the full spectrum of hands-on, minds-on learning, student mindset, cognition and metacognition. She became knowledgeable in teaching and learning techniques that maximize inclusion.

In 2017, after completing her doctoral degree, Haselhorst was hired as an assistant professor of biological and geographical sciences at NWC. In 2018, she received a small amount of release time to develop the Teaching and Learning Center. During this time, she became a mentor for many educators at NWC and encouraged these instructors to apply for the 2018 LAMP yearlong educational development program.

During the summer of 2018, three educators from NWC -- Michael Cuddy, chemistry; Mathew Osborne, biology; and Kerrie Spinney, mathematics -- applied for and were selected as 2018-19 LAMP fellows. Haselhorst was asked to be a mentor for the 2018-19 class of LAMP fellows. In this role, she helped facilitate the development of 25 educators throughout the state and build strong collaborations between UW and NWC.

This fall, Haselhorst formally began directing the Teaching and Learning Center at NWC. The mission of Haselhorst’s center is to “… inspire and support effective and innovative learner-centered and scholarly teaching for all members of the NWC teaching community.”