Cait S. Kirby, PhD

My name is Cait and I use she/her pronouns.

I am the Associate Director of the Williams College Rice Center for Teaching.

I earned my BA in anthropology and biology from Smith College in Northampton, MA. I then earned my MS in biology at Smith College, where I studied an inversion polymorphism on the X chromosome in humans. I developed a teaching laboratory exercise based on that work.

In 2015 I joined the PhD program in biological sciences at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. Throughout my time at Vanderbilt, I sought out many opportunities to hone my teaching, oral presentation, and research skills. I have been fortunate to develop biology curriculum, my own research project, and explore my passion for teaching, all at once. I've even learned the basics of R (for data analysis) and CSS (to make this website!).

My work has led me to realize how much I enjoy teaching and making teaching materials. I have realized that my calling is to help others learn, both by teaching students directly, and also by helping faculty and graduate students learn effective, evidence-based teaching techniques.

As an Associate Director of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Teaching and Learning, I worked primarily with early-career instructors and those in STEM fields, especially around mentorship, belonging, inclusion, and accessibility.

As the Associate Director of the Williams College Rice Center for Teaching, I work with faculty on all aspects of teaching, including surveys, belonging, assignment design, syllabus creation, and more.

Are you interested in collaborating? Please reach out.