Each year, the Department of Biology recognizes four exceptional teachers with teaching awards. The recipients include two members of the faculty and teaching staff, and two graduate students.
With these awards, we celebrate the dedication, creativity and teaching talent of our undergraduate educators, and hope to encourage faculty and students to visit each other’s classrooms, to learn from each other’s experiences and to continue to develop our teaching skills in the ever-changing landscape of higher education.
2026 Winners
Dr. Jola Miadlikowska
“Jola should win a teaching award.” That’s something our Bio 201L students often write in their course evaluations. Some learning teams even go so far as to name themselves “We love Jola!!” Given that kind of response, it’s no surprise we are honoring her today.
Jola earned her PhD in lichenology in Poland in 1999 and joined Duke as a researcher in 2001. In 2016, she became an Instructor B while continuing her research and mentoring students in the lab. Over the years she has taught more than 60 lab sections of Biology 201L, welcoming hundreds of students into their first real experience of doing biology.
Her goal is simple but powerful: she wants students to learn to think like “casual biologists” and to feel that they truly belong in the lab. She cares about her students not just as learners, but as people—asking whether they are happy, healthy, and supported as they navigate their first steps in science. For many students, she is one of the very first faculty members they meet in our department, and often the person who helps them imagine themselves as biology majors.
Her students say it best. One wrote: “One of the best parts about this class. Anytime I had a question, even a dumb one, she would explain it and always made sure I understood the problem inside and out.”
Another shared: “Jola was amazing. I have never felt so encouraged and motivated in my academic career—not only to pursue biology but to have a strong work ethic.”
Dr. Jean-Philippe Gibert
Dr. Jean Philippe Gibert is the Joanne W. Markman and A. Morris Williams, Jr. Associate Professor of Biology and has been responsible for undergraduate courses like “Ecology For a Changing Planet” and the graduate course “Food Web Theory”. Through his courses, his primary goal is to foster ecological and climate change literacy, and to develop critical thinking through quantitative and mathematical reasoning.
His teaching philosophy is defined by a simple rule: when he teaches, he mentors. This philosophy is executed by prioritizing individual needs and goals over curricular ones, supporting development beyond the classroom, showing kindness, and openness to experiencing role reversals and reciprocity.
“Dr. Gibert is a super kind and caring professor, and you can really see his passion for ecology in his teaching.”
Jean Philippe is successful in his teaching approaches because he has developed structures in the classroom that foster students’ learning, in addition to creating an inclusive and welcome environment in which his students are excited to be part of and actively engage in their own learning process.
“The instructor created an amazing learning environment, with clear explanations and
examples that made complex concepts, easier to understand. The combination of lectures, hands- on exercises, and assignments allowed me to apply ecological theory to real-world situations, which I found incredibly valuable. I especially appreciated how the course helped me connect nature’s relationships to mathematical models. The instructor was incredibly fabulous in delivering the class”
“This class was incredibly stimulating […], the course was so well-designed that it pushed me to my limits and helped me grow. The clear structure, the challenging content, and the hands-on application of complex concepts kept me engaged. The difficulty actually made the learning experience more rewarding as I was able to overcome the challenges and gain a deeper understanding of the material.”
Danae Diaz Wong
Danae Diaz Wong is a graduate student in the Biology Department with an extensive breadth of teaching experience, both in undergraduate and graduate level courses. She has acted as TA for 4 different undergraduate biology courses here at Duke, as a Thesis Reader for Bio 495, ‘Scientific Argument in Writing’, was an integral part of re-designing and implementing as Lead Instructor the graduate level course Bio 750S, ‘Introduction to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism in Biology,’ and this past fall was the Instructor of Record for a course of her own design, Bio 290S-3, ‘Biology by Design.’ At the core of Danae’s teaching is the principal of inclusivity, and her commitment to providing inclusive, equitable, and accessible teaching to all is something all of us should strive for.
‘Danae has demonstrated a clear commitment to inclusivity, diversity, equity, and antiracism, serving as the IDEA committee cochair from 2023-2025, and through previous peer teaching of the IDEA in Biology course… Overall, Danae’s compassionate and open-minded approach creates a space that feels accessible and inclusive for all students.’
‘She did an excellent job setting the tone for the class period and was intentional about using students’ names as often as possible… Her tone was positive and invited responses/engagement… all students felt encouraged to participate and respond.’
In addition to all of the courses Danae has helped teach, she has also run Data Expeditions, which she helped design, in multiple courses throughout the department, and has approached these exercises with the same commitment to inclusivity that she brings to all of her other teaching endeavors.
‘Danae approached this data collection with a great deal of sensitivity, acknowledging that humans have different abilities to hear based on many factors and circumstances. She had checked with [the instructor] ahead of time to make sure no one in the class self-identified as hard of hearing, which made the demonstrations and data collection more equitable and inclusive.’
Overall, Danae is an asset to the department’s teaching mission, and demonstrates immense skill, kindness, and compassion in her teaching.
Emma Wallace
Emma Wallace is a graduate student in the University Program of Genetics and Genomics (UPGG). She completed the Graduate School Certificate in College Teaching and is currently part of the Preparing Future Faculty program.
Emma has served as a TA for BIO 205: Marine Megafauna and the BIO 202 Genetics and Evolution lab. She made a major contribution to BIO 205, where she developed clear and measurable learning objectives, improving both the assessment activities and the overall course curriculum.
Emma is a passionate teacher who brings together pedagogical training and evidence-based improvements to create a unique learning space for students. A faculty member observing Emma's class noted:
"Emma has developed a notably sophisticated understanding of classroom pedagogy, and she applied this knowledge effectively in the class."
Emma's commitment to teaching creates an engaging and welcoming environment. Her students' evaluations reflect this sentiment, describing her teaching as "engaging," "well planned out," and "helpful, fun, and unique."
Our department is fortunate to have Emma as a teacher. She brings her knowledge and experience to create a space where students are eager to learn and to help reshape course objectives. Her commitment to both the thoughtful design and in-class delivery of her courses is an invaluable quality in a teacher with such passion for the craft.
2025 Winners
Dr. Gustavo Silva
Dr. Gustavo Silva has contributed to undergraduate teaching in our department in two critical ways. First, as part of the team who taught Biology 201L: Molecular Biology for many years and second, for his development of a seminar called Defective Proteins & Diseases (Bio290S).
Gustavo’s pedagogy is strongly influenced by Dr. Paulo Freire, a renowned Brazilian educator and philosopher who promoted critical pedagogy and community literacy — tools for liberation of the oppressed. As a result, Gustavo is a strong proponent of developing equitable classrooms, where all students benefit and are equally supported to achieve their goals. Evidence of his success is found in his students’ words:
“Entering a Duke bio course, it can be intimidating to speak and ask questions. … I feel like Dr. Silva understood this and allowed us to ease into the seminar style, ultimately letting us reach where we are now.”
One of Gustavo’s goals as a teacher is to help students make connections beyond the course. For example, in addition to teaching the molecular details of how mutations lead to diseases, Gustavo wants his students to think deeply about the daily impact of diseases on patients and their families, the lack of support for rare diseases, and the limited resources available to study and develop therapies. Students get this, as one explains:
“Group projects, diverse prompts and molecular-level thinking all made this course much more engaging that I initially anticipated. I came into class with general knowledge from assigned readings, but was pushed to not only understand this knowledge but apply it to real world scenarios. It was incredibly stimulating to know that the molecular biology I was learning was not just staying on a page, but rather being applied to diseases and active in communication.”
Emily Brady
Emily Brady is a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the department and has supported three advanced-level courses, two with labs, Mammalogy and Entomology, and one with discussion sections, Mechanisms of Animal Communication. Her skills in organismal biology are in high demand. Her enthusiasm to diversify and develop her teaching portfolio while contributing to the learning experience beyond expectations has been noted by the faculty.
“... she went some extra miles in finding online some very useful additional accessories to make the exercise clearer and more accessible to the students… AND volunteered and taught and helped re-organize during our lab-prep session.”
“Although she had relatively little prior knowledge of insects, she has a broad and deep interest in Biology in general, and unbridled enthusiasm for learning more and teaching... lab was enriched by her outgoing character and enthusiasm for the topic.”
Emily is enrolled in the Duke Certificate in College Teaching Program and has taken the Intro to College Level Teaching course. She plans to take more courses in the future, including College Teaching and Course Design. She hopes to use the knowledge gained from her training to be the instructor of record for a course on comparative vertebrate anatomy in her final year as a graduate student.
Chris Shreve
Chris Shreve is a Training Coordinator in the department focusing most of his efforts on Biology 201L: Molecular Biology. He has been associated with introductory biology in the department for many years — first as a lab instructor and now as the course coordinator for 201L. He develops curricular materials and assessments for lecture and lab, teaches lectures, trains TAs for each week’s labs and helps mentor faculty new to teaching. Recently, he has taken on the role of co-leading the department’s graduate student training and will help co-facilitate a week-long summer institute on teaching at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Students in Biology 201 discussed the positive and interactive learning environments he creates and praised the way he brought enthusiasm, joy, and engagement to lessons.
A colleague who observed a lesson Chris developed and led stated, “I’d never thought worthwhile interactive learning could be done in very large sections until seeing this course. It was also impressive to see the comradery evident in the student body, and how well peers work together to solve problems. I also was struck with how the questions in class ascended the cognition levels in Bloom’s, so that by the end students were using the fundamentals from earlier in the class to solve a complex problem.”
Diego Garfias Gallegos
Diego Garfias Gallegos is a third-year Ph.D. student in Biology and has served as a TA in the BIO 201 labs for two years. Diego is committed to continually improving student learning. In his labs, he developed a mid-semester evaluation, a classroom compact, and is always looking for creative ways to engage students in molecular biology. Diego is also committed to ensuring his classroom is an inclusive learning environment. A faculty member observing Diego’s class noted:
“it became clear that he is an empathetic instructor who works to connect with his students; he tries to notice students’ body language and facial expressions during the class so he can respond to students in need. He is particularly aware of the challenges for students for whom English is their second language and tries to slow down his presentation to ensure that all students are included in the lesson.”
Diegos’s excitement and commitment to teaching Biology is rooted in his love for the discipline. In his own words, this is how he described his teaching approach:
“Biology is a field that allows students to find answers to the natural wonders around us. The path to tackling these questions uses the scientific method: phenomena observation, trial and error, and critical thinking. I search for my classroom to be an environment where students can consciously engage in these steps, try without fear of being mistaken, and apply both theoretical and applied biological knowledge to engaging questions.”