Evans nominated for State award
By
Aaron Kopitz

Through the Presidents council of State Universities in Michigan, Barbara Evans a Biology professor here at Lake State has been nominated for the Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year Award. Lake State along with fourteen other public universities were encouraged to select a professor from their ranks for the award. Nominees were selected based upon contributions to their discipline, advising done with students and experimental learning environments done in the classroom. Evans came to Lake State in 1994 from Stanford University after working on her post-doctoral research, since then she has mentored over 60 undergraduate senior thesis projects making her an exceptional professor and resource for Lake States biology students. She has help through the writing of grants to bring in sophisticated technology that students wouldnt be able to use otherwise. Equipment such as a microtome, an ABI Prism 310 Genetic Analyzer and video microscopes.
Evans has changed the teaching in the classroom from traditional talk and textbooks to more of an inquiry-based system. This takes a student right from their freshmen year through a line of inquiry from an area of interest that accumulates to their senior thesis. This allows students to take a more active approach to their area of interest and helps them learn more about the biology field. Evans has clearly been a valuable asset to the biology students at Lake State and to Lake State itself.
