Biology instructor, Jennifer Burke, named 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award winner

trevor.kenney — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 15:48:58 +0000

Relationship building plays a key role in creating a student learning environment of mutual respect, engagement and collaboration for Jennifer Burke (BSc/BEd ’97, MSc ’06), who has been named the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award winner.

With a passion for teaching biology and an ability to connect with students evident from the first moment she steps into a classroom, Burke actively creates bonds with her students, encourages them to bond with each other, engages students by using innovative teaching methods and takes their learning outdoors into the natural environment. She will be presented with the Excellence in Teaching Award at Fall 2025 Convocation, Saturday, October 18, 2025, at 10 a.m. in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Centre for Sport and Wellness gymnasium.

Jennifer Burke is lauded for her ability to connect with her students.

Jennifer Burke

Not only is Jennifer Burke a teacher of biology, she is also a teacher of core values, such as integrity, respect, mutual understanding and trust, which she demonstrates in everything she does. Students and their learning are her top priorities. She has taught for more than 20 years at every level from elementary to post-secondary. Her philosophy hinges on four pillars — active engagement with students, positive relationships between teachers and students, extending the classroom to the outdoors and continuous refinement of this foundational philosophy.

Burke ensures her students are active learners by designing courses that involve exploration, collaboration and critical thinking. Through group discussions, problem-solving exercises, teamwork and interactive assessments, Burke encourages her students to collaborate, question assumptions and apply concepts in novel ways.

Building strong relationships in a class of 200 is no easy feat, but that doesn’t deter Burke. She believes students are more likely to be eager learners when they feel seen, heard and valued. Burke makes a point of getting to know her students by walking around the room, mingling with them, finding out their interests and how they like to learn. She also includes group activities and exercises, so students get to know each other, including a BioBuddy system that pairs students. Knowing how her students learn allows Burke to tailor her teaching methods to include making notes on the board, displaying specimens, having discussion groups, and showing videos or slide shows. She delivers animated lectures, illustrating biology content with real-world examples and stories, which serve as a touchstone to help students remember content. As a result, students experience a classroom where they are respected and encouraged, and their learning thrives.

Since the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is situated on Blackfoot territory, Burke incorporates outdoor learning in an attempt to address recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This approach creates opportunities for students to learn about the land, its history and its stories. She hopes this will build connections and ultimately foster understanding and stewardship.

Burke is also a lifelong learner. She regularly updates her knowledge as an educator through the Teaching Centre’s Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and brings innovations in course delivery, always intending to create the best possible student experience. Her enthusiasm for biology is evident, and students respond in kind to become eager and disciplined learners. She continually checks with students to determine if her strategies are working and refines her approach accordingly. As a result, her students adore and respect her for her imaginative teaching methods and rigorous assessments.

Anniversary gift to help create a more ecologically friendly campus

caroline.zentner — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:50:27 +0000

For more than 30 years, Dr. Jennifer Mather has called the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge her workplace home. She’s rather fond of the place and wanted to mark the U of L’s 50th birthday with a special gift.

Mather says she’s been thinking about campus ecology for a while, since she, like many others, gets a great deal of pleasure from the flora and fauna around the U of L. Whether it’s a newborn fawn or eagles soaring over the river valley, Mather takes note. That spurred her to donate some funds to the U of L as an anniversary gift with the idea they be used to create a more ecologically friendly campus.

Valentina Ibarra Galvis, at right, Dr. Jennifer Mather and Dr. Randall Barley talk about a coniferous cone they found in a wooded area on campus.

And on one of the coldest days of the winter, Mather and a student went around campus to take part in the annual winter bird count. She’d also conducted a bird count on campus during the summer and the total didn’t match Mather’s expectations.

“I didn’t see a lot of the birds I thought I should have seen,” she says. “I noticed that most of the campus didn’t have many. The places where I found birds were on the fringes where nobody had done campus improvement.”

That got her thinking about how campus ecology could be improved. Being a psychology professor, Mather knows that seeing a natural landscape, whether through a window or outside, has a beneficial effect on humans.

“We have an artificial environment here, we can’t possibly not because there are buildings, parking lots and roads. But to some extent, we can do the best we can with what we’ve got,” she says. “I thought if birds are any indicator, then we’re not giving the birds, and the animals and the plants, a good environment.”

Two biology instructors, Jennifer Burke and Dr. Randall Barley, expressed interest in getting the project going and an independent study was established. Funds from Mather’s gift will go to offset any costs incurred by students working on the project.

“I want students to be involved in this as much as possible,” says Mather. “The beginning will be mapping, figuring out the habitats, figuring out the soils and getting a bit of history. It’s a big project.”

Barley knew one of his students, Valentina Ibarra Galvis, was eager to get involved in a hands-on project. Ibarra Galvis, a third-year U of L student who recently switched her major to environmental science from biology, didn’t hesitate to accept.

“I’ve always been very passionate about the environment,” she says. “To me, Jennifer’s project sounded like an amazing opportunity, especially because it’s here on campus. It’s a learning experience and I more than willingly took on the project.”

Dr. Randall Barley, centre, and Valentina Ibarra Galvis, right, talk about the reeds found on campus with Dr. Jennifer Mather.

Ibarra Galvis has been gathering historical information about the U of L, including the ecological assessment that was completed before the construction of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall. She’s also toured the campus with Phil Dyck, U of L grounds manager.

“I couldn’t have hoped for a more enthusiastic student than Valentina,” says Barley. “She has been fierce in her pursuit of information.”

Ibarra Galvis says she learned that much of what grows on campus is artificial, and the construction of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall likely destroyed some habitat. She has evaluated microhabitats on campus and she’ll be identifying the species found in each one. U of L geographers will also be called upon to provide information to make a map of campus. Ibarra Galvis intends to establish a database with all her findings as a reference for other students who work on the project in subsequent years.

“Instead of wiping out what we already have here and putting in all prairie species—because that could be very costly—what we want to do is look at disturbed areas and see how we can restore them and make it more natural,” she says. “The goal is also to be more sustainable. When you have more native species, an area can sustain itself. At the end of the day, this would also hopefully reduce the cost to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ for fertilizer and pesticide.”

Richardson's ground squirrels are among the animals that make their home on the U of L grounds.

“There are limitations and it will be about finding that balance between the biology and all of the other considerations,” says Barley. “If we can create additional habitat for species at risk or that are endangered, then we’d view those as high-value species in this type of project.”

Once Ibarra Galvis has completed the foundational work, students from other disciplines could carry the project forward. For example, a geography student could analyze soil samples or an education student could be involved in educating the campus community about the environs.

“My goal at the end of this semester is to have a map with each microhabitat labelled, with a description of the history of each one,” says Ibarra Galvis. “People don’t understand the value of such a unique ecosystem. It’s important to take care of our environment. We live in it and we need it to survive, too; we can’t forget that.”

UNews - Jennifer Burke

Biology instructor, Jennifer Burke, named 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award winner

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