My work in undergraduate education includes:

1. Integrating research and teaching (See Virus Discovery and Evolution Syllabus below):
  • Providing students with authentic research experiences 
  • Using course-based research as an opportunity to increase equity in STEM
  • Allow my education initiatives to feedback to my research program
  • Provide students with experiences that will equip them to apply evolutionary biology in their diverse future careers
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2. Using active learning and course design to improve learning for STEM and non-STEM students (See Science Fiction syllabus below):
  • Designing syllabi with readings from diverse authors
  • Use peer-discussion and peer-learning to increase inclusivity
  • As a facilitator, provide a forum for students to construct their own new knowledge
  • Provide guidance on professional skill-building

3. Uniting microbiology and evolutionary biology education:
  • As a field, microbiology has often overlooked evolution as a core concept and process. 
    • Even in cases where it could and should be integrated, like antibiotic resistance, microbiologists tend to speak of the "development of resistance" rather than its evolution. 
    • This unexplored impact of evolution on medicine has become a call to arms for the science community. 
  • My goals in the new field of evolutionary medicine are to gain insights from evolution to inform personal and public medical practices, such as the management of antibiotic resistance, and to leverage these insights into interest in the classroom.
Reading List for my course "The Biology of Sci-Fi: Where Does Fact End and Fiction Begin?"


My courses and syllabi that highlight these goals:

​1. Virus Discovery and Evolution: A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience. This is my own newly-developed course I've taught at Yale University
Burmeister - Yale College E&EB 175L
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2. The Biology of Sci-Fi: Where Does Fact End and Fiction Begin? This is another course that I designed and taught at Quinnipiac University.
burmeister_-_biology_of_science_fiction_fall_2021.pdf
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​STEM Education Publications and Presentations

STEM Ed ​Publications (*senior and corresponding author):
  1. Burmeister A.R. #, Bauer M. and Graham M. A Taxonomy of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences in the Biosciences. Submitted.
  2. ​Blazanin M., and Burmeister A.R. # Misinformation Flows: revisiting the Central Dogma After 60 years to improve student learning. In review. #Senior & corresponding.
  3. Burmeister A.R. #, Dickinson K., and Graham M. 2021. Bridging trade-offs between traditional and course-based undergraduate research experiences by building student communication skills, identity, and interest. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education 22:e00156-21. https:// doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00156-21.
  4. Wang C., Bauer M., Burmeister A.R., Hanauer D.I., and Graham M.J. College student meaning making and interest maintenance during COVID-19: From course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) to science learning being off-campus and online. Frontiers in Education 5, 251.
  5. Roush, C. and Burmeister, A. R.#. COVID-19 and The Central Dogma: An Activity to Improve Student Learning and Engagement. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education 21 (3). #Senior/corresponding.
  6. Burmeister, A.R.* and Smith, J. 2016. Evolution across the curriculum: Microbiology. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. 17(2):252-260; DOI:10.1128/jmbe.v17i2.988. (Also selected for and printed in the JMBE 2017 Spotlight Issue.)

​STEM Ed Selected Presentations and Workshops (Presenting author):
  1. Association for College and University Biology Educators. Online Conference. Oct. 24-25, 2020. Alita Burmeister, Melanie Bauer, and Mark Graham. Course-Based Undergraduate Research During and Beyond COVID-19.
  2. BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action Annual Congress. Online Meeting. Aug. 12, 2020. Sandbox Session Convener and Moderator. Alita R. Burmeister and Mike Wiser. “COVID-19 and Scientific Literacy.” 
  3. Association of College and University Biology Educators (ACUBE) 62nd Annual Meeting. Oct. 19-20, 2018. Alita R. Burmeister. “Investigative learning in undergraduate biology labs.”
  4. Southern Connecticut State University Scientific Teaching Forum. New Haven, CT. Sept. 28, 2018. Mark Graham and Alita R. Burmeister. “Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences Workshop.”
  5. American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE). Austin, TX. July 26-29, 2018. Alita R. Burmeister and Mike Blazanin. "Celebrating the Central Dogma's 60th: A Classroom Activity to Address a Common Misconception About Information Flow Held by Undergraduate Instructors and Students."
  6. Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) Forum. College Station, TX. 2015. Alita R. Burmeister, Richard Lenski, and Jim Smith. "Integration of evolution into an undergraduate microbial genetics laboratory course: student perceptions and explanations of microbial evolution."
  7. Evolution Conference. Raleigh, NC. 2014. Alita R. Burmeister, Richard Lenski, and Jim Smith. "Assessing student perceptions and explanations of microbial evolution. Evolution Conference."