PULLMAN, Wash. — Carol Sheppard, Washington State University assistant
professor of entomology, will receive the university’s major teaching award
later this month.
Sheppard will receive the Marian E. Smith Achievement Award during a
recognition program at 4:10 p.m. Nov. 29 in the Food Science and Human
Nutrition Building, Room 302.
At the program, she will receive a $5,000 award and a plaque presented by
WSU President Sam Smith. Sheppard also will present a lecture, “What Is Past
Is Prologue: Lessons from Science and Society.” The Smith Award annually
recognizes significant and meritorious achievement in teaching.
Sheppard’s nominators say the entomologist’s efforts toward course
development and delivery at WSU “have been exemplary.” Sheppard taught
five courses for three different colleges during the 1998-99 academic year: the
College of Agriculture and Home Economics, the College of Sciences and the
Honors College. Two were new courses she developed, and one, Entom 401,
“Invertebrates in Biological Thought,” is the first Tier III capstone course to
be offered by CAHE.
Nominators also note Sheppard’s creativity and innovation in capturing
students’ interest and motivating them to learn.
In her University Honors Seminar, the discussion topic one week was titled
“Comestibles and Quaffs.” Students read book excerpts and essays on several
topics related to foods and beverages, and were given the opportunity to taste
Cougar Gold cheese and various honeys made from different nectar sources. In
this and other ways, Sheppard makes science interesting to majors and
non-majors alike.
A contributing editor for the journal “American Entomologist,” Sheppard
views the work as an excellent way to encourage and enable graduate students
and exceptional undergraduates to publish scholarly work. She is currently
providing additional editorial assistance to three former Entom 401 students.
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