Faculty Mentor of the Week Nicholas Teets - College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, Entomology
Dr. Nicholas Teets is an Assistant Professor of Entomology in the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. His research interests include the mechanistic basis of environmental stress tolerance in insects. Much of Dr. Teets' research focuses on overwintering stress, both in temperate species and species from extreme environments like Antarctica.
In the last year, he has mentored six undergraduate students and one high school student, as well as five PhD students. Dr. Teets was fortunate to have an excellent undergraduate research experience with a supportive mentor who was instrumental in helping him find a lab to do his PhD. He explains, "The best thing about being a research mentor is seeing students achieve their goals. We have extremely talented students at UK, and I hope I can play a small part in getting them where they want to go."
Dr. Teets appreciates the opportunity to mentor students and values having undergraduate researchers in his lab, "Undergraduate researchers are vital to the success of our research program. Some students conduct independent projects for credit, and that research usually culminates in a scientific presentation and/or publication. The most dedicated of these students have the opportunity to present at national conferences and publish their research in scientific journals." When considering undergraduate students for his lab, Dr. Teets values motivated, curious, puncutal and responsible students. He also appreciates students who ask lots of questions, "Research is hard, especially when you're new, so write everything down!"
Dr. Teets encourages students to engage in undergraduate research and offers words of advice to students looking for undergraduate research opportunities, "I would try to find a research mentor that you can have a long-term relationship with, rather than jumping around to different experiences. It’s obviously important to enjoy what you are doing, so don’t stick with something that makes you unhappy. But a sustained research experience will be more impactful." Thank you Dr. Teets for your unwavering support of undergraduate research at the University of Kentucky. We are pleased to recognize your dedication this week as our Faculty Mentor of the Week.
Dr. Nicholas Teets - College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, Entomology