Teaching and Service are cornerstones of the Patek Lab and our dedication stems from three goals: (1) support and promote organismal and evolutionary biology; (2) enable access, enhance trajectories, and rectify barriers for people entering science; (3) engage the broader community in the value of basic research, the joy of discovery, and the pathways to interdisciplinary and translational research. Our efforts in these three areas span focused engagement with single, key individuals who can later have a large impact, to broad dissemination through media-based engagement and dialogue. Patek has founded a series of programs that target specific communities, ranging from a program designed to support female graduate students (now running for over a decade), to a regional consortium of scientists, mathematicians and engineers.
Patek has relentlessly advocated for transparency, scaffolding and equity in university experiences – ranging from teaching undergraduate writing and making clear how students can be successful in college-level courses on up to identifying, supporting, and recruiting diverse undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers.
