Faculty Mentor of the Week Kenton Sena Lewis Honors College
Dr. Kenton Sena is a Lecturer in the Lewis Honors College. His teaching and research interests include forest restoration ecology, environmental science, and literature of the environment. Dr. Sena's thesis research focused on forest restoration on reclaimed surface mines in Appalachia and his dissertation research focused on Phytophthora cinnamomi, an introduced soilborne pathogen that causes root rot in American chestnut and other important native trees.
In the past year Dr. Sena has mentored 8 undergraduate students in his restoration ecology class and his Sustainability Challenge Grant funded 5 undergraduate interns this summer. "As a lecturer, teaching is my primary focus during the school year. Thus, I try to connect my research and teaching as much as possible," he explains, "In my Restoration Ecology class, I work to set up meaningful research projects to conduct as a class; two of those projects have gone on to be manuscript-quality papers, one of which was recently published. I also worked to connect students in my Ecology in The Lord of the Rings class with research topics that fit their interests and professional goals."
Dr. Sena enjoys his role as research mentor, "Being a research mentor is awesome because it allows me to work with individual students--I can meet them where they are and help them to grow in specific ways that are sensitive to their individual skills, interests, and needs." One of Dr. Sena's mentees noted, "I was able to be involved in the process of ecological research from experimental design to submission for publication. I gained valuable experience in critical thinking, literature analysis, fieldwork, and scientific writing. His mentorship has made such a profound impact on my experience here at UK."
Research has been an integral part of Dr. Sena's educational experience and notes that he "benefited tremendously from undergraduate research projects with Dr. Bruce Branan at Asbury University and Dr. Ray Smith at the University of Kentucky. Their mentorship absolutely accelerated my development as a researcher and teacher." When considering undergraduate mentees, Dr. Sena appreciates the following qualities: discipline, independence, and critical thinking -- "I think the most successful students I have worked with are able to work efficiently and effectively on their own and are able to develop creative solutions to challenges they face."
For students interested in pursing undergraduate research, Dr. Sena emphatically encourages students to "Do it! Find faculty that are doing research that you think is interesting, and ask them if you can work with them."
Thank you Dr. Kenton Sena for your unwavering support of undergraduate research at the University of Kentucky. We are pleased to recognize your dedication this week as our Research Faculty Mentor of the Week.