Faculty Fellows

A Cross-Disciplinary Community for Teaching Leadership

The TLC Faculty Fellows program brings together faculty from across divisions to engage with higher education research, reflect on teaching practices, and explore policies and resources that advance student success. As campus leaders in teaching and learning, Fellows contribute to strengthening UCSC’s culture of equity-minded, evidence-based pedagogy.

Fellows meet four times per quarter on Fridays from 12:00–1:45 PM (with lunch provided) for hands-on workshops, reading discussions, guest talks with campus and external experts, and special events. They also have opportunities to propose and host events, townhalls, or initiatives that extend the program’s annual theme and broaden its campus-wide impact.

2025–26 Focus: Experiential Learning

Facilitated by Faculty Director Robin Dunkin

In 2025–26, Faculty Fellows will explore the scholarship, pedagogy, and practice of experiential learning. Fellows will examine how experiential learning takes shape across disciplines and programs, reflect on insights from the 2024 Experiential Learning Summit, and identify opportunities and challenges for expanding EL at UCSC.

The program welcomes faculty who bring experience in experiential learning as well as those who are new and eager to deepen their understanding.

Faculty Fellows will:

• Share how experiential learning is practiced across disciplines
• Reflect on takeaways from the 2024 Experiential Learning Summit
• Identify campus-wide opportunities and challenges
• Guide the direction of the group’s work based on shared interests and expertise

Alison Alkon

• Title
  • Teaching Professor of Community Studies
• Department
  • Community Studies Program

Roxanne Santina Beltran

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Department
  • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department

Guido Bordignon

• Title
  • Associate Teaching Professor
• Department
  • Molecular, Cell, & Developmental Biology Department

Abraham Lee Borker

• Title
  • Assistant Teaching Professor
• Department
  • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department

Dev Bose

• Title
  • Associate Teaching Professor
• Department
  • Writing Program

Laura Beth Bugg

• Title
  • Associate Teaching Professor
• Department
  • Global & Community Health

Tela Favaloro

• Title
  • Associate Teaching Professor of Experiential Learning
• Department
  • Baskin School of Engineering

Giacomo Fiore

• Title
  • Continuing Lecturer
• Department
  • Music Department

Amy K Furniss

• Title
  • Associate Teaching Professor
• Department
  • Physics Department

Kathleen C Gutierrez

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Department
  • History Department

Kimberly Adilia Helmer

• Title
  • Teaching Professor (Senate Faculty)
• Department
  • Writing Program

Jonathan Jackson

• Title
  • Assistant Professor of Photography
• Department
  • Art Department

Kristy Kroeker

• Title
  • Professor
• Department
  • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department

Carl H Lamborg

• Title
  • Professor
• Department
  • Ocean Sciences Department

Flora E Lu

• Title
  • Professor, Environmental Studies
• Department
  • Environmental Studies Department

Lauren Macaulay Lyons

• Title
  • Dr.
• Department
  • Philosophy Department

Jaron Mercer

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Department
  • Chemistry & Biochemistry Department

Matt O’Hara

• Title
  • Provost, Cowell and Stevenson Colleges
• Department
  • Cowell College

Danny Rahal

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Department
  • Psychology Department

Dorothy R Santos

• Title
  • Assistant Professor of Teaching; Art, Justice, and Digital Media
• Department
  • Art Department

Abram Stern

• Title
  • Lecturer
• Department
  • Film and Digital Media Department

Fitnat Yildiz

• Title
  • Associate Dean of Research & Research Impact | PBSci Division Distinguished Professor
• Department
  • Microbiology & Environmental Toxicology Department

Yu Zhang

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Department
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering

View Past Fellows