Kenneth Schoenly
Department
Biological Sciences
Biography
I began teaching in the Biological Sciences department in the College of Natural Sciences in 2000.
Courses I currently teach are:
ENTO 3000 Principles of Entomology
ENTO 4330 Medical and Veterinary Entomology
BIOL 4680 Ecology
BIOL 3020 Introduction to Evolution
BIOL 4200 Ecological Agriculture
I am an active member of the Ecological Society of America, the Entomological Society of America, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the National Association of Biology Teachers, the National Center for Science Education, the North American Forensic Entomology Association, and Sigma Xi.
In my spare time, I enjoy reading, hiking, movies, and international travel.
Academic Credentials
Growing up in the desert southwest, I received my B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology from my hometown university, University of Texas-El Paso and then went on to receive my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1989. For the next four years, I did postdoctoral work at Rockefeller University in New York City analyzing a 600-species food web of tropical rice fields with mathematician Joel Cohen and entomologists KL Heong, Alberto Barrion and James Litsinger of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Philippines. In 1994, two colleagues and I became the first forensic entomologists to receive federal funding from the National Institute of Justice to investigate the reliability of animal models for use in research and training programs in forensic entomology. Following another four-year research position at IRRI as its head of Insect Ecology, I returned to the US with my wife and settled in California. To date, I have published 27 journal articles, 3 book chapters, and more than 3 dozen technical publications, abstracts, conference reports and workshop proceedings.
Area of expertise
My research interests focus on whole-system behavior and spatiotemporal dynamics of species-rich ecological communities (i.e., carrion-arthropod succession, agroecosystem food webs, impacts of natural and human disturbances). Most recently, I have also co-developed inquiry-based field exercises, aimed at high schools and universities, which use pig carcasses as model corpses to teach concepts of forensic entomology and ecological succession.
What have you learned from your students?
The need to constantly push myself to make challenging scientific ideas and processes more understandable and personable in their everyday lives. This leads to greater interest and retention of the material and allows students to extrapolate these concepts from one set of life experiences to another.
Why do students choose CSU Stanislaus?
Students tell me they enjoy the personalized attention they get from taking small class sizes taught by Ph.D.s rather than graduate assistants. Smaller class sizes allow more individualized attention and better engagement and interaction. The personalized assistance we offer our students during academic advising each fall and spring gives us added value over our larger sister institutions in the CSU and in the UC system.
Describe a former student who has attained professional success.
By attending each class meeting and spending 2-3 hours outside each class hour reviewing lecture material and the textbook. Lab experiments build tool skills and reinforce lecture concepts; as such, lab and lecture should be considered one seamless course. Putting information into context with already known material from past courses and life experiences is also key.
E-mail Address
kgschoenly@biology.csustan.edu
