Dr Karen Gresty

National Teaching Fellow 2009 Karen Gresty is a Senior Lecturer in Biological Aspects of Health at the  University of Plymouth. Her reputation and educational strengths are built on her exceptional ability to communicate biology to non-biologists. She is an enthusiastic advocate of public engagement with science and has made teaching biology to a non-specialist audience her area of expertise. Her dedication to this area over the past fifteen years is acknowledged by one senior colleague's comments: "Karen is an enthusiastic, industrious and inspiring teacher with a genuine and deep commitment to student learning and her subject area". Karen began her academic career as a marine biologist, working on fish parasites at the Natural History Museum in London. After several years working in an electron microscope laboratory in the inspirational Museum setting, Karen needed a new career focus. She wanted the opportunity to share her passion for science with the wider student and public community, and the search for a new challenge brought her to the University of Plymouth. Karen began teaching human biology to health students, who have very different needs and expectations compared to traditional science students. She utilises an enthusiastic approach to motivate students to engage with her subject, and her effective style is captured by one nursing students observation: "Biology was never like this at school. You have made it fun, interesting, informative and I wouldn't, couldn't miss a lecture!" Karen has won numerous awards for her teaching and science communication activities, allowing her to develop motivational biology resources to support her students' learning. She has also created more unusual and theatrical projects, including a puppet show for school pupils and the general public entitled 'Real Bugs'. This premiered at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth and has since toured nationally, with the Director of the Aquarium claiming: "Real Bugs was a magnet ... from the first beetle to the last ant. Even the most complex of concepts was reduced to a fun-filled package that kept the audience enthralled, entertained and, of course, educated." Karen is now working on several research-informed teaching projects, most notably including e-journals to publish undergraduate research.