Education

	Duke University, Department of Biology, Durham, North Carolina
		PhD Thesis Advisor Janis Antonovics (currently at University of Virginia) Co-Advisor Rytas Vilgalys at Duke University  "Nectar-Inhabiting Microorganisms (NIMs) and the dioecious plant species Silene latifolia" PhD in Botany, Area: Population Ecology, December 2002 Certificate in Ecology from the University Program in Ecology – December 2002 Certificate in Teaching College Biology – December 2002
	University of California, Irvine, California
		BS in Biology, Cum Laude, June 1996 Specialization in Ecology

Brief Teaching Philosophy

I teach by interactive lecturing, asking students questions as I lecture, getting them involved in the lecture, and making them part of the learning process. Initially, students may be hesitant about answering my questions, but during the semester they learn that I enjoy the interaction, and I do not tolerate ridicule of an incorrect answer. In this way, the classroom becomes a place where they enjoy being and learning about biology. My teaching style is driven not only by a need to teach students about biological concepts and how to apply these concepts, but also by a desire to understand my students, to learn from them, and to become a better educator in the process. I want students to view me as both a mentor and a source of biological knowledge.

Scholarships, Grants, and Honors

	Duke University
		Center for Instructional Technology Jump Start Grant with Dr. Xinnian Dong, Spring 2005. Funds to develop an instructional website focusing on genomics and its usage in microbiology.
		Catherine Keever Award. Supplies for research at MLBS, June 2000-2001.
		Mountain Lake Biological Station, University of Virginia Gift Grant. Support for room and board. June 2000.
		Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid, June 1997. Funds to conduct research at MLBS.
		NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, June 1997 - 2000.
	University of California, Irvine
		Honorable Mention NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Awards, June 1996.
		NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), June 1995 - Aug 1995
		Golden Key National Honor Society, 1994 - present.
		National Science Scholars Program, 1992-1995.
		Deans Honor List (11 quarters), 1993-1995.
		Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union Scholarship, 1992-1993.
		Garden Grove Association of American University Women Scholarship, 1992-1993.
		Italian Catholic Federation Scholarship, 1992-1993.

Academic Employment

	Microbiology Lab Administrator / Instructor, Duke University, Aug 2003 - present
		General Microbiology (Bio 103L) for undergraduates. Coordinate and perform activities in support of the introductory microbiology lab course, a majors and non-majors course. Duties include: training and supervising teaching assistants; editing course lab manual; creating and evaluating prototype labs to enhance the curriculum; deciding which labs to implement during the semester; and supervising the set-up of lab materials; occasional lecturing in the course; and maintenance of the course website at http://www.biology.duke.edu/bio103l/ and Blackboard content accessible by guests (blackboard.duke.edu, click on "log in", then "Courses" tab, then search for Bio 103).
	Teaching Assistant, Duke University, Sept 2000 - Dec 2002
		Introductory Microbiology for undergraduates. Conducted biweekly laboratory sections: lectured at beginning of labs, wrote and graded lab quizzes and lab practical, and graded lab papers. For lecture: proctored and graded exams, gave substitute lectures, wrote exam questions, and maintained website for lecture and lab.
	Aide, Duke University, June - July 2002
		Aide for the Pre-College Howard Hughes Program working with high school students. Helped with a week-long laboratory program, and acted as liaison between students and participating laboratories around Duke's campus.
	Teaching Assistant, Duke University, Sept 1996 - May 1997
		Introductory Biology. Led discussion and laboratory meetings, graded lab papers, proctored and graded exams.
	Assistant I, University of California, Irvine (UCI), June 1994 - Aug 1996
		Science Education Programs for K-12 school teachers, Department of Chemistry. I worked as a teacher's aide for a program offered during UCI's Summer Science Institute (the California Science Project/Orange County Science Education Network) for elementary and secondary education teachers.

Professional Development

	Teaching for Understanding: Active Learning and Assessment, Duke University, Fall 2004
		Workshop by Diane Ebert May, Professor of Plant Biology, Michigan State University. Questions addressed included: How can you run a large class and never lecture? And why is this a good idea? What do you do when your students have major misconceptions about your subject? And how can you be sure that your students actually learn anything?
	Certificate in Teaching College Biology, Duke University, Spring 2002
		Seminar in teaching Biology, Bio 390, Instructor Paula Lemons, PhD. A seminar course on all aspects of how to teach biology including media usage, grading and testing, classroom dynamics, course development, and inquiry based teaching.
	Faculty Mentorship, Duke University, Fall 2001 - Dec 2002
		My mentor: Sandra Seidel, an Associate Professor of Biology at Elon University, currently at University of Virginia. Meetings included discussions on how to teach non-majors, how to design a course, where to find information for courses, dynamics in the classroom, balancing content and quality of content. This is still an on-going mentorship.

Research Interests

My research interests focus around plant ecology and evolution, microbial ecology, and science education. I am interested in population and community dynamics of plants, the evolution of gender in plants, pollination biology, yeast evolution and ecology, and the interactions of microbes with plants and pollinators.

Research Experience

	Dissertation Research, Duke University, 1996 - Dec 2002
		I examined the presence and diversity of nectar-inhabiting yeasts in Silene latifolia, a dioecious plant species (separate male and female individuals), and investigated the interactions between plants, pollinators, and yeast.   I isolated 28 species of yeast from S. latifolia and associated plant species, and identified them using DNA-based phylogenetic analyses and morphological techniques.  There was evidence of both host specificity and widespread dispersal of yeast species.  There were no consistent differences among the sexes of S. latifolia, but male plants appeared to have a lower diversity and species richness in some years than female plants.  Eight yeast species were examined in regard to their growth in nectar and sugar solution.  Several species were capable of growing in high sugar concentrations or water, but far fewer grew in real nectar and more species grew in female nectar than male nectar.  Hand-pollination experiments on female flowers inoculated with yeast species (Candida bombi and Metschnikowia reukaufii) indicated no direct effect of these microorganisms on seed production; however, there is some indication of indirect effects (i.e., pollinator visitation patterns).
	Undergraduate Research Project, University of California, Irvine. Jan 1995 - Aug 1996
		Undergraduate research on the morphology of Schiedea and Alsinidendron (supervised by Drs. Ann Sakai and Stephen Weller, funded in part by a NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates). I investigated sexual dimorphism in the Hawaiian genus, Schiedea, with emphasis on morphology (including primary and secondary sex traits), nectar volume, and concentration of nectar sugars.  I compared dimorphic species of Schiedea with hermaphroditic species to determine how floral morphology has changed with the evolution of wind pollination and dimorphic breeding systems (gynodioecy, subdioecy, and dioecy).   Results of some of this work have been published.

Skills and Techniques

	Ecology: Pollination biology techniques, nectar analysis (including extraction, volume quantification, and sugar content determination), species diversity indices, analysis of categorical data, species identification of plants and some insects, and other ecological methods used in the field.
	Microbiology: Culture and staining techniques for bacteria and yeast, selective media usage, bacteria and yeast identification procedures, and basic microscopy.
	Molecular Biology: DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing, allozyme analysis, RFLP and RAPD analysis, and phylogenetic analysis and reconstruction.
	Computer skills: PC, MAC, and UNIX familiar; statistical software - SAS, JMP, some SPLUS; phylogenetic programs - PAUP, Genedoc, Clustal, DAMBE; spreadsheet software - Excel and Systat; graphics software - SigmaPlot, Adobe Illustrator, Ulead PhotoImpact; HTML designing software - HotDog, and DreamWeaver; miscellaneous software - Word, Powerpoint, Netscape, IExplorer, Blackboard.

Publications

Teaching Materials:

Golonka, A. M. and R. Vilgalys.  Fall 2004 through Fall 2005 Semester Issue.   Laboratory Exercises for Bio 103 General Microbiology.  Duke University, Department of Biology, Durham, NC.

Journal Articles:

Golonka, A. M., A. K. Sakai, and S. G. Weller.   2005. Wind pollination, sexual dimoprhism, and changes in floral traits of Schiedea (Caryophyllaceae).   American Journal of Botany.  92: 1492-1502.

Weller, S. G., A. K. Sakai, A. E. Rankin, A. Golonka, B. Kutcher, and K. E. Ashby.  1998.  Dioecy and the evolution of pollination systems in Schiedea and Alsinidendron (Caryophyllaceae: Alsinoideae) in the Hawaiian Islands.  American Journal of Botany.  85:1377-1388.

Golonka, A. M.  1996.  Sexual Dimorphism in Schiedea (Caryophyllaceae). Journal of Undergraduate Research in the Biological Sciences.  University of California, Irvine.  26: 160-166.

Manuscripts in Preparation

Golonka, A. M, and R. Vilgalys.   The diversity of nectar-inhabiting yeasts in Silene latifolia and co-flowering plant species.

Golonka, A. M.   Differential growth rate of nectar-inhabiting microorganisms in male versus female nectar of Silene latifolia.

Golonka, A. M., and J. Antonovics.   The effect of nectar-inhabiting yeast on maternal fitness of Silene latifolia.

Posters and Presentations

June 1999	Guest speaker for Howard Hughes Program for High School Students at Duke University – Interactive presentation on how to measure nectar volume and sugar concentration of different flowers, and what types of microorganisms might inhabit floral nectar.
June 1999	Society for the Study of Evolution Meetings; Poster "Incidence of Nectar-inhabiting Microorganisms (NIMs) in Males and Females of the Plant Species Silene latifolia (= Silene alba)"

Professional Affiliations
Associate Member Sigma Xi, Botanical Society of America, Ecological Society of America

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