Debora Christensen, associate professor of biology, and Thomas Rosburg, professor of biology, recently received distinguished science awards from the Iowa Academy of Science. Christensen was presented with the Distinguished Iowa Science Teaching Award and Rosburg with the Distinguished Iowa Scientist Award during the academy’s annual meeting at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, on April 20. The awards honor and promote educators for their innovative teaching practices and exceptional scientific research at the post-secondary level.

Christensen has been teaching at Drake since 2008. She has taught 10 different courses. Her main courses include the physiology portion of the general biology course and the mammalian physiology course and lab. Known for her collaborative instruction in the classroom and laboratory, Christensen utilizes diverse strategies to engage students, including video clips, in-class demonstrations, computerized virtual experiments, small group discussions on case studies, and prerecorded lectures. Christensen is also a mentor to approximately 10 research students each semester. Her students have also served as coauthors on research papers and posters at professional meetings.

Rosburg has been teaching at Drake since 1996. He has taught 14 different courses primarily in the subjects of ecology, botany, biological research and statistics, natural history and nature photography. He is known among his peers for his scholarly activity, which includes authoring over 125 scientific papers and reports, contributing to four field guides, and presenting hundreds of lectures and conference papers/posters, many with Drake undergraduates. Among his students, he is known for enhancing learning opportunities through hands-on trips to natural areas and by serving as a mentor to those conducting research.