Richard Pirkle is a tenured Instructor of Biology at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee. He is responsible for teaching large lecture sections (200+ students) of Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II, directing the content to be taught in all lab sections, and managing a large cadre of undergraduate lab teaching assistants. He received my B.S. in Applied Biology from Georgia Tech (2002) and M.S. in Biology from the University of Louisville (2007). He is also currently working towards his Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Tennessee Tech University focusing on the physiology and social biology of a resident Canada goose population. With a passion for education and dedication to meet students where they are, Richard is active on Twitter (@pirkleprof) and has tried various different platforms for improving student engagement. “Connect®, and SmartBook® have been game-changers for me and I would love to share my experiences with you. On a more personal note, I have a lovely wife and two young boys who love soccer and their dog. I try to hike and fish as much as possible and love bad puns to the point where it is probably obnoxious to my students, but they still fake laughter for me on occasion.”
