Giulia J Gurun

TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS

As a teaching professor here at UCSC, I am focused on supporting the university’s educational mission of excellence in teaching by integrating evidence-based, equity-minded practices into our classrooms in order to make our curriculum, and STEM higher education, a more accessible, inclusive and enriching experience for our students.  

My career in teaching began at a local community college where I began to think deeply about what our students need in order to be successful in their educational goals, and how we can support them through our teaching practices.  I have been teaching at UCSC since 2012, and in that time I have taught and developed various lecture and lab courses across the MCD Biology curriculum (including in molecular biology, genetics, immunology, bioinformatics and physiology) and I regularly teach yeast molecular genetics (BIOL109L) and human physiology (BIOL130/L) in addition to partnering on curriculum development projects. 

My interests in scientific teaching, the growth and development of our students, and equity in STEM higher education are blended into the design and pedagogy of all my classes, where I am also able to share my love for both learning and biology.  In addition to active learning, all of my courses emphasize developing effective learning habits, building peer community through collaboration, and advancing scientific reasoning, analysis and communication skills. I aspire to provide meaningful learning experiences that engage students’ interests, support their success and prepare them well for their future in STEM.  

In addition to continually developing my own teaching practices, I am actively engaged with faculty and campus partners to advocate for and support the integration of evidence-based, equity-minded pedagogy to help our students thrive in STEM here at UCSC. I am a current, and former, Faculty Fellow with our campus Teaching and Learning Center (TLC; ‘22-’23 Sustainably Supporting Early Career Students, ‘21-’22 Leadership for Equity in STEM).  I am also a steering committee member of the STEM Teaching and Learning Community (STEM TLC).  In 2021, I was a participant in the Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning’s (CITL) Project REAL (Redesigning for Equity and Advanced Learning), and have been both a participant and facilitator in CITL’s Transforming STEM Faculty Learning Program (2018 and 2019, respectively). I also regularly partner with student-centered programs and organizations (e.g. EOP STEM, ACE, MEDLIFE, SEMILLA Scholars) and the community college bridge program ACCESS.

Publications

Ruben GJ, Kirkland JG, MacDonough T, et al. Nucleoporin mediated nuclear positioning and silencing of HMR. PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e21923. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021923

Radman-Livaja M, Ruben G, Weiner A, Friedman N, Kamakaka R, Rando OJ. Dynamics of Sir3 spreading in budding yeast: secondary recruitment sites and euchromatic localization. EMBO J. 2011;30(6):1012-1026. doi:10.1038/emboj.2011.30