By Jacob Ervin, Student Reporter
Dr. Rebecca MacKay is a new assistant professor of biology for Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
Q: What brought you to Alva?
A: Well, I came here, obviously, for a job. I graduated with my Ph.D. in May and knew I wanted to teach.
As a scientist, there is a lot of research involved in that as well, and I did a lot of research in my Ph.D. But I really wanted to focus on teaching and do research when I want.
One of the great things about Northwestern for a scientist is we can do research, but it’s not required. We don’t have to do it as part of our job.
It’s an extra fun bonus, which I really like because I love research, but I really feel like teaching is how I can make the most difference in the world.
And here, we focus mainly on teaching and making sure students really understand what we are talking about.
We get to interact with students a lot, and that’s what really drew me to this university.
Q: What are you looking to accomplish in the classroom this year?
A: I teach a lot of general biology. That’s a big chunk of my course load, which is for non-majors, and I really want my non-major students to understand why biology is important and how it affects their everyday life.
For my upper-level science, I’m teaching ecology and a seminar. I want to help them figure out how science is meaningful to them.
A lot of them obviously want to pursue scientific careers. But there’s so many different ways to do that, and how are they going to do that and what makes them happiest in the long run?
There’s this philosophy called “raison d’être,” which is your reason for being, and I found my raison d’être to be teaching, and I figured that out while I was in my Ph.D.
So, if I could help people figure out their raison d’être, I think that would be incredible.
Q: Who was your hero growing up?
A: I have never really thought about that, to be honest. I loved Steve Irwin a lot. I always grew up watching Animal Planet when it was still about animals. I feel like now it’s not.
I thought Steve Irwin was the coolest person in the whole world, and he got to understand more about animals in the world.
Q: What is the scariest thing you have done?
A: In my masters, I did what we called “trawling.” We have a giant net, and it drags the bottom of the ocean and we see what’s in it. That’s how we figure out what all animals live in certain areas of the ocean. There was one trawl I was on and the net got stuck on the bottom of the ocean.
It got stuck on some mooring, and the boat almost capsized. So, it was stuck, and we were trying to pull it up.
This net weighs hundreds of pounds, so we have this mechanical rigging – it’s called an “A-frame” – to pull that up, but it literally wouldn’t come up.
We were pulling, but the boat was sinking and sinking, and we just had to wait until it snapped.
Q: What is your super power?
A: My super power is to see the potential in people even when they don’t see it in themselves.