Senior Lecturer
Year Started at JMU: 2012
hymanoj@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Research Description
I am interested in biology education, developing research experiences for introductory undergraduate courses, and helping students use tools from disparate fields like molecular biology, field biology, and bioinformatics to contribute to species conservation. I am also interested in developing resources and training modules to help others integrate course-based, undergraduate research experiences at their home institutions. Most of my projects revolve around biodiversity monitoring, species detection, species identification, and disease ecology and use a variety of field, molecular, and bioinformatic techniques. Recent student-centered, course-based projects include (1) monitoring amphibian chytridiomycosis, a disease linked to global amphibian population declines (2) and using DNA barcoding for biodiversity assessments in local areas such as the JMU arboretum and Shenandoah National Park.
Courses
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Organisms (BIO114 Lecture and Lab)
- Ecology and Evolution (BIO124)
- Teaching in Biology (BIO492)
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Foundations in Biology I (BIO140, Lecture, Lab and Honors Lab)
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Foundations in Biology II (BIO150, Lecture, Lab and Honors Lab)
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Foundations I Lab: DNA Barcoding (BIO427)
Education
- PhD in Biology, 2012, Arizona State University
- BS in Biology, 2004, University of Colorado Boulder
Select Publications
- Hyman, Cass, Enke, Storm, Nash. (2024) Classroom-friendly, cost-effective DNA extraction for DNA barcoding diverse biological samples. In: DNA Barcoding Methods and Protocols. Eds. Robert Desalle. Methods in Molecular Biology Series: Vol 2744. Humana Publishing. https://link.springer.com/book/9781071635803
- Hyman, O., & Harsh, J. A. Planning to Fail: Teaching Strategies to Navigate Failure-Related Research Challenges in an Introductory Biology CURE. in Corwin, L.A., Charkoudian, L.K., Heemstra, J.H. (Eds.). (2022). Confronting Failure: Approaches to Building Confidence and Resilience in Undergraduate Researchers. Council on Undergraduate Research. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED621426.pdf
- Hyman OJ, Doyle EA, Harsh J, Mott J, Pesce A, Rasoul B, Seifert K, and Enke RA 2019. CURE-all: Large Scale Implementation of Authentic DNA Barcoding Research into First-Year Biology Curriculum. CourseSource. doi: 10.24918/cs.2019.10
