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The distinctive character of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is defined by the faculty's demonstrated capability to fulfill the values of the Teacher Scholar Philosophy; a philosophy guided by a serious and continuing commitment to teaching, scholarship and service in the belief that scholarship complements and enriches excellence in teaching and service.

Adapted from the Teacher Scholar Philosophy of SIUE, Teacher Scholar Philosophy Working Group, 6/2/08

Dr. Paul E. Brunkow

Associate Professor, Biological Sciences

Research Focus:
"My current research program focuses on ecological consequences of organismal morphology and behavior in freshwater ecosystems.  More specifically, my students and I are studying the effects of shell morphology and individual behavior on habitat distribution, dispersal, predator-prey dynamics, and host-parasite interactions in pond- and stream-dwelling snails."

Paul Brunkow

Recent Honors / Awards / Recognition:

SIUE University Teaching Recognition Award:  2004

Summer Research Fellowships (Graduate School): 1998-2001, 2004, 2007

Appointed as Chair, BRIDGE Implementation Committee (Provost’s Office, Faculty Senate): 2007-Present           

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society (Full Member, 1997 – Present)

Primary Courses Taught:

BIOL 111 (Contemporary Biology
BIOL 120 (Animal Systems)
BIOL 485/585 (Ichthyology)
BIOL 480 (Animal Behavior)
BIOL 417 (Biostatistics)
BIOL 466 (Terrestrial Ecosystems)

Education:

B.S. Zoology,  University of Washington (Seattle, WA),  1988

Ph.D. Zoology,  Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ),  1996

How does SIUE support your professional growth or activity as a Teacher-Scholar?
"I have found the environment afforded by SIUE to be very supportive of my own professional goals and talents as both a researcher and teacher/mentor.  Institutional support of research, through the SRF, FUR, and other programs, as well as through support of travel to meetings for faculty, has been very valuable and allows for great flexibility.  In addition, institutional support of student research through RGGS, URA, Senior Assignment Funds and travel grants have been essential in allowing students to combine their classroom curriculum with my research program.  The balance between research productivity and teaching excellence as practiced here at SIUE has allowed me to focus on both in such a way that I can maximize opportunities for students in the classroom as well as in the laboratory or in the field. "

How has one mentor or event shaped your career decision to become a university professor?
"
The goal is to 'work to live', not to 'live to work,' right?  While a senior at the University of Washington, I enrolled in a Field Ecology course taught by Dr. Dee Boersma and Dr. Robert Paine.  One of our field trips involved an overnight stay on Waadah Island off the very northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula.  Our dinner that night consisted of fish caught fresh just hours earlier and bag-in-a-box wine, with Bob Paine reviewing results of our projects completed that day and telling stories of his own studies in marine ecology.  I distinctly remember looking at stars through the canopy of a temperate rainforest, listening to whales breech in the Strait of Juan de Fuca below the cliff that formed our camp site, learning from one of the most prominent ecologists in the field (Bob had just recently been elected to the National Academy of Sciences) as he sat against a tree near our campfire wearing his ever-present Converse® Hi-Tops, and thinking, 'This just might be better than becoming a doctor…'  Bob Paine’s combination of approachability and enthusiasm for learning as well as teaching – his combination of “what he did” and “how he lived” – has been inspirational to me right down to the moments during which I typed these words."
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