Erin McKenney

Bio

Education

Ph.D., Duke University
M.S., North Carolina State University

Resources

• CV: https://go.ncsu.edu/mckenney-cv
• Teaching Philosophy: https://go.ncsu.edu/teaching-philosophy
• Diversity Statement: https://go.ncsu.edu/diversity-statement

Research Interests

I cultivate critical thinking through active learning. Students are not limited by access to content; I focus, instead, on practicing current techniques to collect and analyze novel datasets. By designing my courses around authentic research experiences, I encourage student autonomy and foster practicing scientists.  Across my courses, I implement inclusive teaching approaches rooted in SOTL research. I aim to dispel the various stereotype threats surrounding (and amplified by) the “ivory tower” and to empower students (including the general public) with scientific understanding, toward science literacy and belonging. My “broader impacts and outreach” include scholarly efforts to build reciprocal, collaborative, long-lasting partnerships with students as well as the public.

In addition to education, I study how microbial communities form over time and how they adapt to their environments. My research incorporates microbial ecology, nutrition, and comparative gut morphology to learn how gut microbes affect health – and how humans can leverage or upset that balance. For over a decade I have investigated evolutionary adaptation across scales and species, between non-human primates and carnivores and their gut microbes. More recently, I’ve expanded my research to sourdough and other fermented foods that can be studied without laboratory equipment, using citizen science research to empower students of all ages and all over the world.

Publications

• A Path Forward: Creating an Academic Culture of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion , The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America (2023)
• Applied Ecology , (2023)
• Conservation Innovations and Future Directions for the Study of Rhinoceros Gut Microbiome , JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL GARDENS (2023)
• Effect of fecal preservation method on captive southern white rhinoceros gut microbiome , WILDLIFE SOCIETY BULLETIN (2023)
• Effects of age, seasonality, and reproductive status on the gut microbiome of Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) at the North Carolina zoo , ANIMAL MICROBIOME (2023)
• Hidden diversity: comparative functional morphology of humans and other species , PEERJ (2023)
• Sourdough starters exhibit similar succession patterns but develop flour-specific climax communities , PEERJ (2023)
• The Human Gut Microbiome , (2023)
• A gut microbiome tactile teaching tool and guided-inquiry activity promotes student learning , FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY (2022)
• Correlating gut microbial membership to brown bear health metrics , SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2022)