Meenal Rana, Department of Child Development
Where are you originally from?
I’m originally from India. I was born and grew up in Haryana, a Northwest state of the country.
Where did you complete your education?
I completed my Masters in Child Development in India. I graduated with my PhD. in Human Development and Family Studies from Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, in 2012.
Where have you taught prior to coming to HSU?
I taught in the Department of Education at Brown University last academic year. Prior to that, I taught several courses, independently and collaboratively, at Michigan State University.
What are your specific areas of expertise?
Contextual youth development; immigrant, refugee, and at-risk youth and families; religion and child development and methods in Child Development.
What classes are you teaching this year?
Fall 2013: Prenatal and Infant Development, Middle Childhood Development, Directed Field Experience (DFE); Spring 2014: Parent-Child Relationhips, Perspectives/Professional Development, DFE.
What attracted you to Humboldt State?
Several factors attracted me to HSU: 1) its emphasis on excellence in teaching and collaborative research, 2) engaged student body in the department of Child Development, 3) the size of the campus: I’m a community builder and this place is very conducive to create one, and 4) last but not least, the Child Development faculty and staff members’ collegiality was a big factor because I study Human Development in contexts; the supportive environment at my department is an important context for my development as a scholar.
What do you do in your free time outside the classroom?
I like to cook for my family and friends, make new connections in the community, listen to good music, and explore nature when I have free time.
What is your favorite classroom technique to engage students?
I create safe environment for my students by sharing examples from my life and encouraging them to do the same. I believe that we learn together and from each other. I constantly evaluate my teaching and students’ learning to tailor the content to different learning styles.
What is the best thing about being a university professor?
The best thing about being a university professor is preparing next generation of scholars and thereby investing in future. I think that this is one of the most rewarding and noble professions.
Where is the strangest place you’ve done research?
I haven’t worked at any strange place so far. Since I work with children, youth, families, and communities for my research, all the places that I have worked were either someone’s home, work, business, school, or religious place, which were some important and beautiful places to do my work.
If you weren’t an HSU professor, what would you be?
I would have opened a safe place for [all] the vulnerable children in this world (which, of course, is an ideal world scenario).
What superpower would be most valuable to your research?
Having several of my clones working on different papers all at once.
Tim Bean, Department of Wildlife
Where are you originally from?
I grew up in Cambridge, MA.
Where did you complete your education?
BA from Columbia University and MS and PhD at UC Berkeley.
Where have you taught prior to coming to HSU?
UC Berkeley
What are your specific areas of expertise?
Wildlife ecology, geographic analysis and historical ecology.
What classes are you teaching this year?
WLDF 301 (Principles of Wildlife Management), WLDF 210 (Introduction to Wildlife Conservation and Administration), and a graduate class on GIS and remote sensing in wildlife management.
What attracted you to Humboldt State?
The best wildlife program in the world, and students that love being in the field in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
What do you do in your free time outside the classroom?
Read, watch the Red Sox, and kayak with my wife.
What is your favorite classroom technique to engage students?
Giving them something challenging or controversial to think about and letting them argue with each other.
What is the best thing about being a university professor?
Learning new things about our world and sharing that knowledge with other people
Where is the strangest place you’ve done research?
Homeless encampments in upper Manhattan
If you weren’t an HSU professor, what would you be?
Owner of a repertory movie theater.
What superpower would be most valuable to your research?
Second sight / remote vision – the only thing preventing us from knowing anything in ecology is our inability to observe it.