Sarah Ruffell awarded the 2023 Excellence in Science Teaching Award

Biology lecturer Sarah Ruffell and Chemistry instructor Julie Goll have both been awarded the 2023 Excellence in Science Teaching Award for their excellence in teaching.

The Excellence in Science Teaching Award (ESTA) is awarded annually to a maximum of two instructors who have demonstrated sustained, high quality teaching in their undergraduate or graduate courses.

Sarah Ruffell, Department of Biology

Sarah Ruffell is a highly impactful instructor in the Department of Biology.  She is recognised for her remarkable efforts to improve the accessibility and equity of her courses for students. This includes initiatives in her courses focused on mentorship (Tea and Talk Sessions), group studying (Study Buddy Room Sessions) and adopting open-source materials in her upper-year courses to ensure all students have access to learning materials.  Additionally, a collaboration with the English Language Institute (at Renison University College) created a suite of English language Learning Objectives for Sarah's internationally-taught Biology courses supported by the development of language aids for all lesson content to help her students be more successful learning the challenging language of Biology. Sarah is also highly active in her commitment to the process of improving teaching both at the national and institutional level. This includes publishing and presenting scholarly work in the study of teaching effectiveness and receiving federal grants to continue her research into teaching and learning. To the UW community, Sarah also serves on the Faculty of Science Indigenous Working Group, and Graduate Studies Petitions Committee, among others.

Congratulations, Sarah!