COLLEGE STATION, Texas—Congratulations to Ph.D. student Loriann Garcia on receiving the Distinguished Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Garcia was honored with the award for Excellence in Teaching during a special Distinguished Day awards ceremony that was held on April 27.
Garcia is advised by Dr. Micky Eubanks and has been a teaching assistant for several courses, including General Entomology, Evolution of Insect Structure, Host Plant Resistance, and Integrated Pest Management courses since fall of 2012. She also has been an invited lecturer for a general entomology course in Fall 2014 and an instructor for the Center for Teaching Excellence’s Teaching Assistant Institute in fall of 2014.
“Loriann is a fantastic teacher,” Eubanks said. “She is very good at engaging students. Loriann is very, very good at engaging students. Loriann is very good at gauging what a student knows and what they need to know, putting them at ease about their knowledge level and ability to learn, and making the material relevant to their interests.”
Eubanks also spoke very high of Garcia’s demeanor with her students in the classroom.
“She comes across as very humble and down-to-earth and students are really at ease with Loriann,” Eubanks said.
Associate Professor Raul Medina praised Garcia on her teaching abilities during the time she was a teaching assistant for two of his courses.
“She was reliable, responsible and caring. Students in both of my courses loved Loriann and gave her outstanding teaching evaluations,” Medina said. “The one thing that really impresses me about Loriann is her ability to address different audiences in an engaging, didactic, and effective manner.”
Garcia also served as an undergraduate research mentor for Eubanks’ lab for a year and a plant science mentor for the Botanical Society of America in 2013-2014. She also was an undergraduate mentor for the Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity, and Sustainability for the Ecological Society of America in Portland, Ore, in 2012.
She has received numerous awards during her college career, including the Susan M. Arseven ’75 Make A Difference Award in 2015, the Presidential Volunteer Service Award in 2013, and the Westover Honors Society Fellow at Lynchburg College from 2006-2010.