During my graduate student years, most of my energy was focused on my research: biochemical and genetic experiments to better understand the roles, activity, and regulation of DNA damage response factors in yeast and bacteria which enables copying of UV-damaged DNA molecules. However, I was also already deeply interested in teaching. I learned a tremendous amount about teaching by TAing, and I found additional opportunities to engage in conversations about teaching and learning, through the MIT HHMI Education Group. After completing my PhD, while I continued my research, my focus turned to teaching. I taught introductory biology at MIT for a semester as a Technical Instructor, worked for a couple of years teaching in the High School Outreach Program at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and taught Biochemistry at Suffolk University. I have been at Brandeis for nearly two years. I teach the introductory course in Genetics and Genomics, Biol14a, which is taken by many first- and second-year undergraduate students. I also teach courses in molecular biology and cancer biology. In my second year, I had the honor of being one of the Davis Fellows, a group of faculty working together to share and develop our best practices in teaching.