Current Position

Departments of Biology and Environmental Science  
Full Professor, fall 2010 – present
Associate Professor, fall 1998 – spring 2010
Assistant Professor, 1993 – 1998

Previous Positions, Post-Doctoral

• 1992-1993: Ecology Lectureship. Department of Biology, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, NC.
• 1990-1992: Post Doctoral Research Associate. Dr. J. Whitfield Gibbons, Univ. of GA, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.
• 1988-1990: Post Doctoral Research Associate. Dr. Warren P. Porter, Univ. of WI.

Education

Awards and Scholarly Recognition

• Sabbatical Leave, spring semester, 2010. “Creating an Environment, Energy, and Sustainability Science (ES)2 Institute for 21st Century Teacher Leaders.” $10 million NSF MSP proposal submitted October 2010 (funding declined...).
• Widener University President’s Lecture, Feb 2008: “Practitioner Research Improved My Students’ Understanding of Evolution by Natural Selection in Introductory Biology.”
• Recipient of Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching, Widener University (2001)
• College of Arts and Science – Teaching Award (1998-1999)
• Faculty for the 21st Century (F21), Project Kaleidoscope, since May 1997.

Selected Recent Publications

• Grant, B. W., George Middendorf, Michael J. Colgan, Haseeb Ahmad, and Michael B. Vogel. 2010. Herps in Cities * Herps of Cities: Urbanophiles, Urbanophobes, and the Urbanoblivious. Section 3, Chapter 4 in Handbook of Urban Ecology, Jari Niemela and Ian Sherman (eds.), Oxford University Press. (in press)
• Sieg, Annette E., Michael P. O'Connor, James N. McNair, Bruce W. Grant, Salvatore J. Agosta, and Arthur E. Dunham. 2009. Mammalian metabolic allometry: do intraspecific variation, phylogeny, and regression models matter? American Naturalist 174 (5): 720–733.
• Grant, BW. 2009. Practitioner Research as a Way of Knowing: A Case Study of Teacher Learning in Improving Undergraduates’ Concept Acquisition of Evolution by Natural Selection. Commissioned Paper from the National Research Council Board On Science Education Workshop “Linking Evidence and Promising Practices in STEM Undergraduate Education,” 30 June 2008, at the National Academies, Wash DC.
• D’Avanzo, C, and BW Grant, (with DA Morris, K Winnet-Murray, and C Beck for V4–V6). Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE) (http://tiee.ecoed.net), a journal of ecology education research and practice published by the Ecological Society of America: Volumes 1 (2004), 2 (2005), 3 (2005), 4 (2006), 5 (2007), and 6 (2008).
• Middendorf, G, and BW Grant. 2003. The Challenge of Environmental Justice and the Role of Ecologists. Frontiers in Ecol. & Envt. 1: 154–155.

Recent Grants from the National Science Foundation

• "Inspiring Learning and Teaching through Sustainability (INLETS)" Co-PI with Steve Madigosky (WU), Victor Donnay (Bryn Mawr College), Joan Buttram (U.Delaware), & Merle Horowitz (Marple Newtown SD). NSF MSP Targeted Proposal 11-02635 (requested $9,999,943) July 2011 to June 2016. (declined)
• "Engaging Undergraduate Students in Ecological Investigations Using Large, Public Datasets" Distributed Graduate Seminar: National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). University of California, Santa Barbara. Co-PI with Teresa Mourad (ESA) and Wendy Gram (NEON). NSF-NCEAS ($150,000 approx.) Jan 2009 to March 2011.
• "Environment, Energy, and Sustainability Science: An Institute for 21st Century Teacher Leaders" NSF DUE MSP-START 08-32049 ($298,498) October 2008 to June 2011. Co-PI with Steve Madigosky, Victor Donnay (Bryn Mawr College), Thomas Schrand (Philadelphia University), and William Keilbaugh (Haverford SD).
• "Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE)" NSF DUE 04-43714 ($49,903) March 2005 to Feb 2006, NSF DUE 01-27388 ($499,290) March 2002 to Feb 2005, NSF DUE 99-52347 ($85,191) Jan to Dec 2000. Co-PI with Charlene D’Avanzo (Hampshire College).

Selected Recent Grants from Widener and Other Sources

• “Academic Service Learning Assessment” July 2010 – June 2011, Widener University, Faculty Development Grant, ($1,000)
• “Forging International Collaboration in Ecological Education about Global Climate Change with the British Ecological Society” July 2008 – June 2009, Faculty Development Grant, ($1,100)
• “Promoting International Ecological Education with the Education Committee of the British Ecological Society” July 2007 – June 2008, Provost Grant, ($1,000)
• Academic Service-Learning Faculty Fellowship – Fall 2006 to Spring 2007. “Academic Service Learning as Curriculum in Biology: Freshman Biology Major Engagement in Life Science Enrichment Education in a Local Middle School.”
• “Environmental Education in Our Urban Environment.” July 2006 – June 2007, Faculty Development Grant, Co-PI with Nadine McHenry ($1,500).
• “Integrating Urban Ecosystems Ecology and Science Education Using a Model Organism, Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus).” July 2005 – June 2006, Widener University Provost Grant ($2038).
• “Web-based Authentic Assessment of the Curriculum in Biology.” Faculty Development Grant, July 2004-June 2005 ($1,660).

Selected Scholarly Presentations in 2012

• Pedagogy for the Rest: Evidence of Improving Ecological Literacy through a Student-Centered Problem-Based Non-Majors Environmental Science Course. Oral presentation to be given at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR, 3-10 August 2012.
• Socio-Environmental Synthesis (SES) Teaching Study. Invited poster presentation by Alan R. Berkowitz, Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Paul Thiers, Caroline Solomon, Khadijat Rashid, Mintesinot Jiru, Brett Alvaré, Bruce Grant, and David Hawthorne at the workshop on Socio-Environmental Synthesis Education at the National Center for Socio-Environmental Synthesis (SESYNC)in Annapolis MD, 3-6 June 2012.
• Visioning the Design, Structure, and Template of SESYNC Curricular Modules to Teach Socio-Environmental Synthesis. Invited poster presentation at the workshop on Socio-Environmental Synthesis Education at the National Center for Socio-Environmental Synthesis (SESYNC)in Annapolis MD, 3-6 June 2012.
• Pedagogy for the rest: Improving ecological literacy through a student-centered problem-based non-majors environmental science course. Oral presentation at the annual meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter, Ecological Society of America, Blacksburg, Virginia, 14 April 2012.
• Infusing Issues in Sustainability Science Across the Curriculum to Motivate Improved Teaching and Learning in STEM. Invited presentation at the Math Science Partnership 2012 National Learning Network Conference (“all PI’s meeting”), Washington, DC, 22-24 January 2012.

Selected Scholarly Presentations in 2011

• Engaging Undergraduate Students in Ecological Investigations Using Data: Effects of Arctic Sea Ice Melting on Polar Bears and Their Ecosystems. Invited presentation coauthored with Widener students Mike Colgan and Amy Thompson at the NSF funded workshop on "Using Continental Scale Data to Teach Ecology at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), Santa Barbara, CA, 10-13 April 2011.
• Inspiring Learning and Teaching Through Sustainability: INLETS. Co-authored poster presentation: Stephen R. Madigosky, Joan Buttram, Victor J. Donnay, Bruce W. Grant, Merle Horowitz, Richard Clevenstine, Nadine McHenry, Adina Laver, Hillary Kane, and Blythe Hoyle at the Math Science Partnership 2011 National Learning Network Conference (“all PI’s meeting”) Washington, DC, 23-25 January 2011.

Selected Scholarly Presentations in 2010

• Practitioner research to improve student understanding of the hydrogen economy of nature, ecosystems thinking, and climate change. Invited oral presentation at the symposium “Where’s the Carbon? – Increasing Public Understanding of Global Warming with Improved College Science Education”, annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Pittsburgh, PA, 1-6 August 2010
• Engaging Undergraduate Students in Ecological Investigations Using Data: Effects of Arctic Sea Ice Melting on Polar Bears and Their Ecosystems. Poster presentation by Nabil Abdulhay, Mike Colgan, and Bruce W. Grant. Presented at the Organized Poster Session: Engaging Undergraduate Students in Ecological Investigations Using Large, Public Datasets at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Pittsburgh, PA, 1-6 August 2010
• Engaging Undergraduate Students in Ecological Investigations Using Large, Public Datasets. Organized Poster session by Bruce W. Grant, Teresa Mourad, Wendy K. Gram, Stephanie Hampton, and Amelia Nuding. (6 posters)
• Practitioner Research Improved My Students’ Scientific Epistemology in an Undergraduate Introductory Biology Course. Invited Keynote presentation at the Symposium on Teaching Ecology, Pierce Cedar Creek Institute for Environmental Education, Hastings, Michigan, Wednesday, 20 May 2010.
• Modeling teaching and Learning as a Complex System. Invited presentation at the NSF funded workshop Developing Student Understanding of Complex Systems in the Geosciences, session: Teaching Complex Systems with Models at Carleton College, Northfield MN, 18-20 April 2010.
• Environment, Energy, and Sustainability Science: An Institute for 21st Century Teacher Leaders. Poster presentation by Stephen R. Madigosky, Victor J. Donnay, Bruce W. Grant, and 4 others. Math Science Partnership 2010 National Learning Network Conference, Washington, DC. 25-27 January 2010

Selected Scholarly Presentations in 2009

• A Brief History of Campus Sustainability Initiatives: Have we made progress? Invited oral presentation at the syposium Ecological Knowledge and Campus Sustainability Initiatives, organized by Kenneth M. Klemow, Carmen R. Cid, & Bruce W. Grant for the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Albuquerque, NM, 2-8 August 2009.
• Using Continental Scale Data to Teach Undergraduate Ecology. Oral presentation at a workshop for the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Albuquerque, NM, 2-8 August 2009.
• Using Large Scale Ecological Data to Teach Ecology -- Visions, Mechanisms, and Challenges. Oral presentation at the Distributed Graduate Seminar funded and hosted by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 13-17 July, 2009.
• The Decade of Betrayal, 2000-2009: Why Today's Students Are the Civic Generation. Oral presentation at the MSP-START workshop on sustianability science education, Widener University, 8 May 2009.
• Termites and the Scientific Method. Oral presentation at a regional workshop on teaching animal behavior at Swarthmore College, 4 May 2009.

Selected Scholarly Presentations in 2008

• Using Continental Scale Data to Teach Ecology and Ecological Thinking. Invited oral presentation. National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and Ecological Society of America (ESA) workshop, Washington DC, 2-4 October 2008.
• Practitioner Research as a "Way of Knowing" to Improve Student Reflective Learning in Ecological Education. Invited oral presentation at the symposium “Blue Sky Thinking in Ecological Education: Starting from Scratch” organized by David Slingsby for the annual meeting of the British Ecological Society, Imperial College, London, UK, 3 – 5 September 2008.
• Practitioner Research as a "Way of Knowing" to Improve Students’ Scientific Epistemology in an Undergraduate Introductory Biology Course. Oral presentation #13585 at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, WI, 1-8 August 2008.
• Practitioner Research Improved My Students’ Understanding of Evolution by Natural Selection in an Introductory Biology Course. Invited oral presentation at the National Research Council Board on Science Education workshop “Linking Evidence and Promising Practices in STEM Undergraduate Education,” 30 June 2008, at the National Academies, Washington, DC.
• Practitioner Research Improved Students’ Understanding of Evolution by Natural Selection and Scientific Epistemology in an Undergraduate Introductory Biology Course. Bruce W. Grant and Stephen Madigosky. Invited oral presentation, 8th annual conference on Pedagogy, Technology & Course Redesign VIII, 4 – 6 June 2008, Fairfield Univ., Fairfield, CT.
• The Effects of Student Attitudes Toward Environmental Issues as a Function of Teaching Strategies: A Hands-On and Minds-On Approach. Stephen Madigosky, Bruce W. Grant, Donna Ziegenfuss. Invited oral presentation at the 8th annual conference on Pedagogy, Technology & Course Redesign VIII, 4 – 6 June 2008, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT.
• Recent Population Crash by a Population of Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulatus: Phrynosomatidae) In The New Jersey Pine Barrens: Effects Of Three El Niño’s In 2002-2007? Poster presentation by Jonathon Diulio, Heather Drebitko, Lisa Duelfer, Theodore Haenn, and Bruce W. Grant, at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), Salisbury, MD. 10 – 12 April 2008.
• Practitioner Research Improved My Students’ Understanding of Evolution by Natural Selection in an Introductory Biology Course. Widener University President’s Lecture, Monday, 11 February 2008.

Selected Scholarly Presentations in 2007

• Case Studies in Practitioner Research to Teach Biology and Environmental Science at Widener University. Invited oral presentation co-authored with Steve Madigosky to be presented at the 2nd Annual Research Conference on Math and Science at the annual meeting of the Math Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia (MSP-GP), Bryn Mawr College, 27 October 2007.
• Practitioner Research as a Means to Improve Students’ Understanding of Evolution by Natural Selection in an Undergraduate Intro Biology Course. Invited oral presentation at the University of Pennsylvania, Dept. of Biology, Ecology Group, 8 October 2007.
• Practitioner Research as a Means to Improve Students’ Understanding of Evolution by Natural Selection in an Undergraduate Intro Biology Course. Oral presentation, annual meeting of the British Ecological Society, Univ. of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK, 9-12 Sept 2007.
• Practitioner Research as a Means to Improve Students’ Understanding of Evolution by Natural Selection in an Undergraduate Introductory Biology Course. Oral Presentation annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, San Jose, CA, 4-10 August 2007.
• Faculty investigating active teaching and student learning in a new TIEE practitioner research project. Charlene D’Avanzo, Deborah A. Morris, Bruce. W. Grant, and Jason Taylor. Poster presentation # 58-46 at ESA San Jose.
• Introduction to TIEE (Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology): A peer-reviewed electronic publication. Charlene D'Avanzo and Bruce W. Grant. Workshop #WK-20 at at ESA San Jose.
• Using Research Inquiries As Curriculum in an Introductory Ecology Lab Course: Formative Evaluation and Course Revision. Invited presentation and workshop for the session on Project Based Learning at the Math Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia (MSP-GP) conference Engaging Millennial Learners in Math and Science Courses. Widener University STC, 1 June 2007.
• Service Learning in Biology – Teaching Concepts of Freshman Biology to Middle School Students. Invited presentation and Faculty development workshop at Gwynedd Mercy College,10 May 2007.
• Service Learning in Biology – Teaching Concepts of Freshman Biology to Middle School Students. Oral presentation annual meeting of the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND), Gwynedd Mercy College, 23 Feb 2007.

Selected Scholarly Presentations in 2006

• How Can Practitioner Research (Scientific Teaching) Improve Teacher Professional Development and Student Learning Along the K-16 Continuum? Invited presentation and workshop at the Project Kaleidoscope Faculty for the 21st Century National Assembly, Chicago, Illinois, 6-8 October 2006.
• Evidence-Based Scientific Teaching - A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Ecology Education. Invited presentation at the symposium Research and Research Priorities in Teaching organized and chaired by Dr. David Slingsby. Annual Meeting of the British Ecological Society, Oxford University, 5-7 September 2006.
• Practitioner Research Using TIEE. Bruce W. Grant, Charlene D'Avanzo, D. Morris, S. Musante, and J. Taylor. Workshop #WK-11 at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Memphis, Tennessee, 6-11 August 2006
• TIEE (Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology): evaluation results and research practitioner model. Charlene D’Avanzo, Bruce W. Grant, Deborah Morris, Susan Musante, Jason Taylor, Josh Riney, and Daniel Udovic. Poster #147.
• Nine TIEE Team Posters (Research Practitioner Teams funded by our 2005-2006 NSF grant and trained at ESA 2005 Workshop: during fall 2005 - spring 2006, co-PI's Deborah Morris, Charlene D’Avanzo, and Bruce W. Grant)
• Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE): An Electronic Publication for Ecology Faculty. Poster presentation, Bruce W. Grant, Charlene D'Avanzo, Susan Musante, Josh Riney, Jason Taylor, and Deborah Morris. Annual meeting of the American Institute of Biological Sciences AIBS. Washington DC. 24-25 May 2006.
• Service Learning in Biology – Teaching Concepts of Freshman Biology to Middle School Students. Oral presentation at the First Annual Math Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia (MSP-GP) Math & Science Education Research Conference, Bryn Mawr College. 25 March 2006.