Assistant Lecturer Dr. Adrienne Brundage’s teaching methods have earned her one of the highest awards given by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2016.
Brundage received the Dean’s Award for Early Career Teaching during a special awards ceremony in October at the AgriLife Center by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Since fall 2013, Brundage has been teaching in the Department as a full time lecturer. She currently teaches the Veterinary Entomology (ENTO 208), Medical Entomology (ENTO 423), undergraduate seminar, and Intro to Forensic Sciences (FIVS 205), teaching several hundred students each semester.
Brundage’s philosophy is simple: make the subject matter engaging, interesting, and impactful for her students.
“She is an exceptionally gifted teacher,” Ragsdale said. “She cuts through the extraneous information, and presents new and complex knowledge to students in such a way that it not only sticks, but impacts their lives. She does this through innovative and exciting teaching methods, coupled with an attentive, caring, and enthusiastic demeanor. Adrienne holds her students to a very high standard, and is confident that when they leave the university they will understand and expand their chosen field into new and unexplored areas.”
Brundage is also very active in several outreach programs, including teaching high school students during the Youth Outreach Program, various children’s groups and schools in the Brazos Valley in both entomology and forensics.
Most recently, Brundage was asked by the Texas State Anthropological Facility to train college students and police officers on using insects in forensic science. In addition to outreach, she also advises the First Responders Training Unit, the Order of Aggie Illusionists, and the Aggie Forensic Sciences Organization.
“Dr. Brundage embodies the spirit of what a junior professor at a land grant university should be – an exceptionally accomplished teacher who is making an impact in student’s lives and in her science,” Ragsdale said.