I’m Adam Reitzel; Associate Professor in
the Department of Biological Sciences at UNC Charlotte.
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Our research is really geared towards understanding
how marine organisms, jellyfish, sea anemones
and sea urchins - how is it they respond to
their changing environment.
My general approach for mentoring in the lab
is this is a team we collaborate on projects
we share ideas.
We tend to do collaborative projects with
research from other universities but we also
do collaboration through outreach through
joint education ventures for example with
Mitchell Community College where we've developed
laboratories with them.
The partnership with Discovery Place has really
opened a whole new avenue to what we're doing.
They have beautiful facilities.
Now we can do research with them.
It also gives us a direct way to access the
public by showing data but also showing the
animals to give them immediate look at what
the research looks like.
This year we're working with Charlotte Teachers
Institute.
The program is built around having 12 teachers
in Charlotte Mecklenburg School System.
We're working together to understand the impact
of social and environmental experience primarily
from a human perspective and how that impacts
the way your DNA works.
The most energizing part of my work is working
with other people. That's hands down every
single day.
That idea that you can learn something new
and you can share that information.
