Phil Allman, PhD Assistant Professor Florida Gulf Coast University Department of Biological Sciences 10501 FGCU Boulevard South Fort Myers, FL 33965 239-590-7974 pallman@fgcu.edu

Teaching Statement

Teaching and interacting with students have always served as my primary motivation to pursue a career in academia. Above all else, I feel that it is my job to stimulate the students’ interest in science and foster a life-long interest in learning. As a teacher of science, I set three goals for my students: 1) become proficient in the course content through a concept-based approach of understanding, 2) acquire analytical skills that provide the ability to construct and evaluate logical arguments, and 3) gain an appreciation for science through personal awareness of biological principles in the “everyday” world. To meet these three goals I provide a dynamic classroom that expresses my own excitement about science and that affords the students with a plethora of tools to better understand the information.

Current Courses

General Biology I

Herpetology

Sea Turtle Research

In August 2006, I initiated a collaboration with AK Armah at the University of Ghana to begin the first sea turtle tagging program in Ghana (one of the first in Africa). This type of program is needed in West Africa because very little is known about the populations of sea turtles in this area. In fact, simple information such as what species nests and when do they nests are not well documented in this region. Our project entitled Hlami Association for Turtle Conservation and Hope (HATCH) has three objectives:

1.) Improve the knowledge of the status and distribution of nesting sea turtles in Ghana

2.) Reduce direct and indirect causes of marine turtle mortality

3.) Initiate a sea turtle walk ecotourism program that involves community members

Diamondback Terrapin Research

I use the diamondback terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin, as a model species to explore variation of life history traits in long-lived ectotherms. Explaining phenotypic variation is a central goal of evolutionary ecology. When variation occurs among populations of a single species, and the disparity is related to fitness, the variation may indicate evolutionary change through local adaptation to the biotic and abiotic environment. Differences among populations are commonly observed in species that maintain a wide geographic range that covers a large latitude or altitude cline. Thus, a major goal of my research is aimed at the resolution of how different environments affect the ecology and evolution of organisms. I utilize an integrated approach of laboratory and field studies to test hypotheses regarding the ecology and evolution of life history traits.

I am currently surveying the estuaries of Southwest Florida to identify terrapin populations and their nesting habitats. I am also interested in the conservation of this species and am looking to explore the current threats of terrapins in Florida.