Episode 8. Kristin Bingham- College Education, Navigating Life, and People Propagation
Transcript
Vikram Baliga (00:00):
What is up plant people? It is Tuesday, February 18th, 2020 and I am stoked to be here with you today. Do people still say stoked? I don't really know either way. I am Vikram Baliga your host and I am super stoked, super duper fresh to death...Stoked...I'm just making stuff up. It doesn't matter. How are you today? Hope you're having a good one. I have a lot to cover today so I'm going to jump into it. Um, today's episode is going to be fantastic and you're going to love it. We talked with my really good friend Kristin Bingham, who is a professor at South Plains College, our local community college, in biology and she's just a wonderful instructor, a wonderful professor, a really cool plant nerd and has some really interesting, great meaningful thoughts I think on education, on academia and how to just navigate life. Few things before that.
Vikram Baliga (00:58):
Um, there's some cool stuff coming up and I've mentioned this before, but Lubbock-Con is at the end of February. This February 29th leads. It's a leap year and that means there's an extra day. I guess apparently looking at my calendar and uh, March 1st, so February 29th through March 1st is Lubbock con 2020. I'll be there in a couple capacities. I actually have a little woodworking gig and I will have a booth, but I'm also doing a live show and a live panel at Lubbock-Con. That will be Sunday, March 1st at 12:00 PM in room 101 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. It's gonna be a lot of fun. We're going to talk about plants in Sci-Fi and fantasy series and just how many authors and creators use plants in their world building and how important they are to a lot of these fantasy worlds. It's going to be great. Lubbock-Con is going to be a lot of fun.
Vikram Baliga (01:47):
I'll put info about how to get tickets and all of that in the show notes. Second, we just started a brand new Facebook group called Planthropology's Cool Plant People. It's a really laid back, fun community where you can post plant names, plant questions, people can answer your questions. It's awesome. Um, find that on Facebook. So again, Planthropology's Cool Plant People. It's awesome. You'll get to meet some other podcasters and some other plant nerds like you. Um, the next thing: stickers, I ran a promotion over the past couple of weeks where if you left a review on pod chaser or iTunes, I would send you a sticker for free and I've sent out quite a few of those already and I'm going to keep it rolling through the end of February. So if you want to get on iTunes and leave me a review or Podchaser and leave me a review, take a screenshot of it, send it to me through email or whatever else.
Vikram Baliga (02:39):
I'll send you a cool plant. People are cool picture, sorry, a cool plant. People are cool sticker for free in the mail like we did in the old days. The next thing. Patreon I debated a long time whether that was something I was going to do, whether I wanted to start a Patreon but uh, you know, I'm getting a lot of support from the Texas tech university department of plant and soil science, but I hate just relying solely on them to pay for hosting and all of those things. They've been super supportive and they've done a lot of great stuff, but I want to be able to, as we move forward, um, produce merch and expand the show and improve the show and get more equipment and do live shows and things like that. So that's where you come in. Um, if you'll go to patreon.com/planthropology and even if you can donate a dollar a month or just 50 cents an episode, that goes so far to making this whole thing better and giving us the option to do a lot of really cool stuff coming up over the next year or two.
Vikram Baliga (03:37):
So think about it. If you've got a couple of extra bucks, if you're willing to sacrifice a Starbucks, um, or other non-branded/copyrighted coffee company coffee, um, I would really appreciate it. Uh, there's some really cool rewards from stickers to live videos to patrons only content. So again, that's patreon.com/planthropology. And the last thing, if you stick around after the show today, I've put in a little promo from um, Kristin our guest today. She is the host of a podcast out of South Plains College called Catabolic Conversations where they talk about biology, all the cool stuff they do with their students and it's a lot of fun. So stick around to the and listen to that. Um, aside from that, I think that's all I've got. I think you're going to love today's episode with Kristin Bingham. Hang out, listen in, get in your favorite chair and put in your favorite earbuds or turn up your radio or however else you consume media and listen to the hilarious and meaningful and deep thoughts of my good friend Kristin Bingham.
Vikram Baliga (04:52):
All right, well we are alive. Thanks for coming in today.
Kristin Bingham (04:55):
You're welcome. Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
Vikram Baliga (04:57):
You having a good day So far?
Kristin Bingham (04:58):
Great day. Today is our fall break students. It doesn't affect students, but faculty are off and we get an extra day, so that's a good day.
Vikram Baliga (05:06):
That's nice. How does that work?
Kristin Bingham (05:09):
Well, we just don't go in for office hours today, so we got the morning off to sleep in and I went and had lunch with my oldest son, so just hanging out.
Vikram Baliga (05:17):
Very cool. Well introduce yourself. Tell me what you do. Okay.
Kristin Bingham (05:21):
My name is Kristen Bingham. I am an assistant professor in biology at South Plains College. I teach a number of different biology classes have over the years. This is my ninth year of teaching. Um, I also run the greenhouse in gardens at South Plains. I am the outgoing president of the Lubbock master gardeners association. I'm trying to think. That's pretty much it for right now. I would think. Just to kind of tamp some of that down.
Vikram Baliga (05:48):
Is that all? That's all you do? [Very heavy sarcasm]
Kristin Bingham (05:49):
That's all. I know, that's nothing compared to, you know, I just...
Vikram Baliga (05:52):
No, I think, like, of all the people, I know you're probably the one of the few that is like just as busy.
Kristin Bingham (05:57):
I mean I feel like we keep pace, but right now it's kind of come into that harvest season where everything's slowing down. So it's nice.
Vikram Baliga (06:05):
Yeah, that is good. Yeah, that's good. It's like actually fall today.
Kristin Bingham (06:09):
It is. It's gorgeous outside. I was walking through your garden, um, as I came in I was a few minutes early so I got to walk around and kind of see what's growing and what's still putting on the birds are just having a heyday out there. It's a beautiful day to be outside. We should go outside.
Vikram Baliga (06:24):
Let's see...we could do this outside.
Kristin Bingham (06:26):
We could, but it'd be so loud.
Vikram Baliga (06:29):
Traffic and birds.
Kristin Bingham (06:30):
It'd be the birds.
Vikram Baliga (06:31):
Undergrads.
Kristin Bingham (06:32):
Yeah, undergrads.
Vikram Baliga (06:33):
They're around. Okay. So you said you've been teaching nine years. Have you been at SPC the whole time?
New Speaker (06:38):
I have, I have. I came out of my graduate program, so I have a master's degree in biology from UTPB in Odessa. And as I was getting ready to graduate, I just happened to see the job open at South Plains for an instructor. And I was like, "Hey, roll the dice, see what happens. And turns out they liked me and they offered me a position and I've been there ever since.
Vikram Baliga (07:00):
That's awesome.
Kristin Bingham (07:00):
Yeah, it's been really good. I actually teach with some of my former instructors and so I get to, I get to spend my days with the people who helped me learn how to love science the way I do.
Vikram Baliga (07:10):
So that's really cool.
Kristin Bingham (07:12):
It really is very cool. That's the magic of our department. And I think, you know, that's a big thing about community colleges and what we've in particular do at South Plains. It's just a really unique place to be and it's a really cool place for students to be, to be able to enjoy that close relationship.
Vikram Baliga (07:29):
So that's really cool. And it's cool that like, I like the way you say that, that you get to work now and, and I think I get that to a certain extent here too, but you get to work with the people that helped you fall in love with science that you...
Kristin Bingham (07:39):
I'll tell you a secret. I started as an English major in college. I did, I love words and I always loved learning about language, but I sat in my first zoology class and um, they started talking about taxonomy and root words and etymology. I was like, "Oh dang, this makes my brain so happy." I never looked back after that. It's like hook, line and sinker, science is for me. So yeah.
Vikram Baliga (08:04):
That's awesome. I think it's just always interesting to hear like how people get to--that's the whole point of this-- but how people get to where they are and end up like in a field that they love for a long time.
Kristin Bingham (08:16):
You never know what that one thing is, where that one spark is that's going to just take flame and just change somebody's life forever. And it's cool to see that happen.
Vikram Baliga (08:25):
Well, I think that's a great lesson for, um, like our students that are hopefully listening to this. I don't know, there may be one of them and it's probably one of my employees who I can fire if---
Kristin Bingham (08:34):
Welcome. We're so glad you're here.
Vikram Baliga (08:36):
Thanks for listening...Zach...
Kristin Bingham (08:39):
He has to listen.
Vikram Baliga (08:40):
No, he has no choice, especially to this episode,
Kristin Bingham (08:42):
Especially this episode.
Vikram Baliga (voiceover) (08:44):
So, just for context, um, Zach used to work for me. He was one of my student assistants and is Kristin's cousin. So even though he doesn't work for me anymore, he's still pretty much has to listen to this episode. Now, to be fair, I did not fire Zach. It was not for lack of trying, but I didn't fire Zach. He took a job with a different lab. So anyway, back to the show.
Vikram Baliga (09:07):
Um, but that, you know, you go through your collegiate career, your academic career or your professional career and, and I think that we get pretty scared in the, in the field, in education academia to like take a hard left sometimes. Right? Like, "I'm dedicated to this, I've put in this much time" and we fall into this like sunk cost fallacy. So much of, I've been in school for three years studying this. I've just got to plug away and finish and get the degree. But at some point it's like, yeah, but why get a degree in something you hate, or not even hate, but maybe that doesn't like get you up in the morning.
Kristin Bingham (09:42):
Yeah. And the enthusiasm I think is what makes it sustainable in many ways. Because I have known professors who have come in and they're like, this is cool. I'll be here, you know, a couple of years then I'm gone. And they do that. But then, you know, I was in a conversation last last month with a professor who's getting onto 20 years and she's like, I'm meant to be here two years and I guess I'm still here. And she likes that. She loves what she does, she loves the kids she works with and it, it's neat to see that kind of buy-in when it happens and you're not expecting it.
Vikram Baliga (10:14):
Oh, that's really cool. So, so that's what got you into the sciences I guess the, that zoology class. What got you into plants? Cause you're, you're a plant nerd too.
Kristin Bingham (10:22):
I am a total plant nerd. So I started at South Plains. I took a zoology class. Um, I ended up after that in a botany class with my dear friend Iris Keeling and she hired me after that semester to work in the greenhouse that I now run as a professor. And so she let me water plants and re-pot things and just do pretty much whatever I wanted. I had grown up gardening with my mother and with my grandmother and so I knew how to take care of plants and I liked it. And once I started working in the greenhouse, I was like, this is the best job ever because it's quiet, it's calm and breathing, all this extra oxygen. I'm happy. And so when I started taking care of the plants and doing that botany work. I was like, this is really cool.
Kristin Bingham (11:07):
Actually I have a bachelor's degree in zoology. I fought it for a long time. When I made the transfer from South Plains to tech, I met with, um, Ellen Peffley and really looked hard at horticulture degrees, but I ended up staying more in the biology part of the world and I really wanted to stick with animals. I thought I'd go, you know, work with elephants somewhere. Yeah, yeah. I really like them, but they're kind of big, um, kinda hard to find a workplace.
Vikram Baliga (11:31):
Apparently in West Texas.
Kristin Bingham (11:33):
They're like, you gotta volunteer for six years, I might give you a job. So now, um, I got into plants and was doing a lot in while I was still at Tech. And then while I was in my masters doing a lot with food security and how, how people get food, our understanding of where food comes from. It was at that time, the Omnivore's dilemma out. by Michael Pollan and there was a big food revolution going on with the local food scene. And so that's where I really kind of bought back in. And I thought, you know, when I was leaving college I really thought I'd go work for a nonprofit on food security and trying to revitalize local food sheds. And so I've just always stayed in the food scene and in the plant part of the food scene talking about this is how you grow your food, this is, you know, this is where it's coming from, this is how you feed the meat that you're eating. And that's, that's where a lot of that interest stayed at for a long time. When I got back to South Plains, it was, you know, a couple of years and they were like, Hey, you know, would you like to run the greenhouse? Yes, of course. Let me do this.
Kristin Bingham (12:33):
I've been waiting. I started a garden. So we've got to about a 6,000 square foot garden tucked in behind our building and we were growing food out there and putting in different spaces. We've turned it into an outdoor classroom at this point. And so it's just been this progression of embracing plants and just making it a bigger part of my life. I guess that was a long, rambling answer.
Vikram Baliga (12:55):
No, no, it was great.
Kristin Bingham (12:55):
It was all over the place.
Vikram Baliga (12:56):
No, you're fine. No, that's still, but that's, I think that's, I'm totally fine with that because--- like the journey to different places is not ever simple. No. I think and into our fields.
Kristin Bingham (13:09):
And then, and you fight it sometimes. No, I don't want to do that.
Vikram Baliga (13:13):
Kicking and screaming. Right. Like here we are holding on to the doorframe like it's a cartoon.
Kristin Bingham (13:17):
I refuse to be a botanist. Oh wait. I am.
Vikram Baliga (13:20):
Yeah. Yeah. Congratulations. Welcome. And like I at this point, I've mentioned it more than once, but I started in engineering and I did a year, I was going to go to med school and I did a year of biomedical engineering. I wanted to build prosthetics.
Kristin Bingham (13:34):
That's cool.
Vikram Baliga (13:35):
But then I realized I don't like calculus or blood.
Kristin Bingham (13:37):
See, and I thought about med school for like a solid three minutes. One time I was like, wait, I really don't want to deal with people but, wait, I deal with people everyday now.
Vikram Baliga (13:45):
Yeah. But you can also like escape and go like deal with plants.
Kristin Bingham (13:49):
It's different.
Vikram Baliga (13:49):
Plants don't talk back or ask dumb questions.
Kristin Bingham (13:52):
And when you cut parts off, they don't say anything.
Vikram Baliga (13:56):
Yeah. Well that's true.
Kristin Bingham (13:57):
Edit that out.
Vikram Baliga (13:58):
No...
Kristin Bingham (14:00):
That's called propagation, and that's how we make new plants!
Vikram Baliga (14:03):
That's, exactly, that is not how you make a new people. However,
Vikram Baliga (voiceover) (14:06):
Future editing Vikram here, uh, Kristin is probably not a murderer who cuts people's arms off and plants them. Probably.
Vikram Baliga (14:20):
Um, we've, we've taken a turn. I don't know what's going on. It's totally fine. Um, so you, so what is, what is teaching at the community college level? Like, I mean, what, you know, I don't know that you have anything to compare it to. I don't know that you've, but it seems like that'd be so chill, like compared to like a major research university.
Kristin Bingham (14:39):
It is. Um, you know, I've got friends who they went all the way through and got PhDs and looked at teaching in universities. And one of my really good friends and colleagues, um, came from Tech and knew she wanted to teach at a community college because of the difference in culture. I teach three classes, those classes... I teach a lecture and then a lab that corresponds to it. So my load is about six regular classes. Um, but I see my same students for both lecture and lab for each class.
Kristin Bingham (15:10):
And so I teach, um, four days a week. We have classes Monday through Thursdays and then I have Fridays for office hours and lab prep, setting up exams, all that weird stuff we do. And it is, it, it's more chill now because I've been doing it so long that I kind of have an idea of what I'm doing. And I get to spend a lot of time really pouring into my field and trying to improve my teaching methods and my skills so that I can better relate with my students. So, we don't have a huge emphasis on research, but that doesn't mean we don't do research. Um, our faculty is able to research independently. We write grants, we try to investigate new new things that we want to do or new technologies we want to bring in. Um, South Plains is an amazing institution and we have a lot of resources available to really make our classes as good as they can be, the best that they can be.
Kristin Bingham (16:03):
And so we, we really focus on the teaching aspect more than research because that's, that's what we're there to do. And so it really, it, it's a whole different approach to our students. I know everyone of my students names it takes me a little bit, but I don't remember all their names and I know what they're doing. I know the ones that are at Tech, the ones that are just at the college and kind of, it gives me an opportunity to get involved in their life. And for the ones that want it really mentor them in terms of where they're going after this, if they know or if they don't know, kind of helping them figure it out.
Vikram Baliga (16:34):
That's really cool cause like, you know, we, we have that to a certain extent here. Um, one cool thing that we do in this department is, uh, faculty advising and not all departments do that, right? So a lot of departments have just a general department advisor, but we do faculty advising. And so at least to a certain extent, our students get a familiar face all the way through. That being said, that's still a lot of students. And so you don't get to necessarily always put in that one on one time or the, the extra help that sometimes students need to figure out where they're going. And even with our labs. So I've taught some labs here in over the past year and a half. And even with that, like there's always a few students that reach out for extra help, or extra advice and that's great, but when you're teaching 102 hundred students or whatever it is, like it's hard to give that attention to maybe everyone that needs it or everyone that wants it. So that's really cool.
Kristin Bingham (17:29):
We do faculty advising and so we have students that we have listed on our advisee role. But what's nice about the class I teach, so right now my main course I teach is majors biology too. So it's for the students that are going into med school that want to go pre PT, physical therapy, occupational therapy and biology majors. I get the really serious students in organismal biology and so I kind of get to get to know them not only in class, but then advise them on what classes are you going to take next semester, what's your four year plan, when are you taking the MCAT, how, you know, what are you doing in your summers to help prepare for this? So we, we really try to be hands on as much as we can, as much as our students want us to. You'll always have students that are like, no, it's cool, I got it. I'm like, okay, cool.
Vikram Baliga (18:15):
Yeah, good for them.
Kristin Bingham (18:16):
Holler at me if you need anything. It's, it's a really, it's nice to be able to advise students and have that relationship, so I've enjoyed it.
Vikram Baliga (18:24):
So you mentioned them going to take the MCAT or or whatever, you know next step there is, do you, do you see like a lot of your students that come through and get all the pre-recs they would need to go take the MCAT or something like that. Do you see a lot of students that are say coming to Tech or another university to finish out their four year degree? How to, what is there like a mix of that?
Kristin Bingham (18:40):
We have a huge transfer population, so most of, I would say most of our students coming in are planning to transfer to a four year institution. We give them those first two years of their foundational courses and then they can move on and finish up those junior and senior level classes as they get to Texas Tech, A&M, UTPB, ENMU, wherever it is, they're going.
Kristin Bingham (19:00):
West Texas A&M, I forgot about that one, we like those people. That's the majority of our student population. We've got, uh, a good population of non traditional students that are coming back either after military service. They're starting a new career. You know, they've raised a family and they're trying something new. We get a lot of older students, older students are amazing. They are so on the ball. So that's, that's another core group. We also serve a huge population of um, Tech students and other universities, students coming home in the summers. And so they'll come out and take, um, you know, we'll offer majors, biology one and two in the two summer sessions. And so instead of waiting and doing a whole year of biology and come and sit with us for 10 weeks through the summer and get both credits and then go back to their institution.
Vikram Baliga (19:50):
And that's kinda awesome. Like, you know, if, if you're out there listening and you've been lost in a 400 seat biology class where you know, you come in, you sit in the back and there's no way you'll... I mean, people do fine in that, but I think there's so much to be said with like the small class sizes and, and going and using. So if I had to do it again, you know, I went to A&M and I struggled so much through my first two years of school, really my first year, because for one, I didn't know what I was doing as an adult.
Kristin Bingham (20:21):
And that's totally ok, that's super common.
Vikram Baliga (20:23):
Oh yeah. Well even just like, yeah, with my degree, but even just like how to study and all those things. And you know, I go in, I sit in a 200 seat history class or whatever and like end up failing a class because I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know how to study. I don't like have necessarily the resources to go get the help I need.
Kristin Bingham (20:41):
And you're not asking questions. I mean nobody asks questions in those classes.
Vikram Baliga (20:45):
No, it's so intimidating and overwhelming that it's just impossible to do that. So I'm a big proponent. If I had to go back, I don't think I would do my first two years, uh, at least part of it at a community college.
Kristin Bingham (20:58):
So I graduated here in Lubbock and um, my, my parents did not really, they didn't do college, they don't have a bachelor's degrees or anything like that. So I was the first one in my family to go to college and to really take that route. And I really, we didn't know what, I didn't know what I was doing and my parents didn't really know what we were doing. So I was like, well I'm going to college. I don't, I don't know how to do it but I'm going to do it and I'm going to start at South Plains cause I think it's a little bit cheaper and since I've paid for it. I mean I've got the loans and all of that. I've, I've done it all. But em, what I like about South Plains is our, our classes are capped at about 30 students each. Our labs in the biology department don't hold more than about 30 students. So we're limited on how big our classes can be by the size of our facilities. But in a class of 30 students, we have time and we have the ability to stop and say, okay, you know, we just covered some serious biochemistry here. Did y'all get that? We all good silence. Remind you, I'll remind them, Silence is consensus. Guys, if you don't understand, you better speak up because otherwise it's pedal to the metal. So it, I mean I just finished this in my majors one class I taught last week, we were going over cellular respiration and we go through the whole process of ATP synthesis and all of these weird chemical processes. They're just fascinating. And I'll have the whole board full of reactions all the way across. I'm like, so all of this happens so we can get here. Did you understand all that? And they're like, no, let's do it again. We'll start over and do it again. And in a class like that, you have that ability in it and you get comfortable with the people around you because in, I'll tell him, I'm like, guys, if you don't understand, chances are three people over here didn't understand either. So if you'll just ask me, I promise I'm not going bite your head off.
Kristin Bingham (22:44):
I'm not going to do anything weird. I'm just gonna I'm gonna reteach it either until you learn it or I pass out because I run out of air, we're going to learn, we'll figure it out. You will learn this if you, if you stay long enough.
Vikram Baliga (22:56):
So, um, so tell me more about like where do you want to head? Like what's, what's the next steps? Now, I, I don't mean in terms of like I'm going to go and take over the department with a iron fist or whatever. But like, I mean, no, I mean like, wait, what do you want to develop out there in terms of your greenhouse, in terms of your teaching, whatever else.
Kristin Bingham (23:16):
Great question. And we are working on an improvement in our facilities right now. So our building dates back to the 1960s and we've got this glorious green and mauve tiled of course fully perfect is well and I like, you know, 1960s modern is my favorite design style. So I'm right at home. I mean I, I love it. There's a reason I'm there, but um, I've got, we've got two greenhouses out there that are in, in need of being repaired or replaced. And so we're working on a building project that's going to address that. Um, in the next five years. I expect to see a whole new greenhouse facility out there as well as, I mean in that I'm going to have to dig out my garden and then we're going to redo the whole thing, which the first time they told me that I cried a couple of times and that's not a natural response for me is like, Oh, insides hurt when you say this out loud, but, um, we're going to, we're going to read you the garden, which I love that because I didn't really know what I was doing to begin with.
Kristin Bingham (24:16):
I knew what I wanted, but I've had the years of trial and error, now, in creating that space in my outdoor classroom, I'm like, okay, this could work better if this. And so kind of having a Mulligan is going to be nice or working on developing some more digital offerings for our students. Not necessarily in terms of like online classes or anything like that, but talking about how we can be more available to our students. Things like podcasts, web pages, and just creating more interactive interfaces outside of the traditional classroom. So that's, I'm really pouring into digital digital media right now and that that's something we both have in common that I'm kind of learning from you on.
Vikram Baliga (24:55):
Well, I'm glad you're here today cause I think this is a good..
Kristin Bingham (24:57):
yeah, I know. So that's, I mean, just since we don't do research, that's where I'm spending my time, is trying to figure out what can I improve in terms of what I'm delivering my students and in what enriches this experience for them and for me. And that's, that's where I'm focusing for the next few years.
Vikram Baliga (25:13):
That's awesome. Yeah, no, I love that. And so, you know, I think we've talked in the past, maybe, maybe we have or haven't, I can't remember, but about, um, like just the philosophy on teaching and how we approach teaching in a maybe in a different way than was done 20 [years ago].... Well, tell me a little bit about just your take on teaching. What kind of like, what tools do you like to use? How do you like to approach your students?
Kristin Bingham (25:38):
So I enjoy anything that I can get hands on with. I'm a visual learner in every aspect of the word. If you can give it to me and I can touch it, I will understand it much better than just someone talking at me. So, you know, with my classes this last month, they learned all about plants, which they were not nearly as excited as I was about it, surprisingly.
Kristin Bingham (25:59):
But we talked about, I mean, we do a survey, so we talked about everything from produce up through, you know, major tree groups and angiosperms and things like that. And when we finished it all, we have a huge food lab where we eat all of the different things we talk about. And so we had sushi to go with our pineapple from our flower lecture. We dissect flowers and I mean we just, I try to get any opportunity that I can go out and get something that they can get their hands on and touch and taste, see whatever. I want them to have that opportunity and, and teach an organismal class. So it's, it's more macro. It's not so much sitting in front of a microscope that we do that as well. But my, my main philosophy is let's, let's try to make it big and interesting and exciting.
Kristin Bingham (26:45):
And I think that the enthusiasm that I have for the subject matter, just because I'm such a nerd. I mean, I just told them, I think just totally nerd out whenever we talk about all the things and that that's contagious. And I think if you're bringing that excitement to the material, your students can't help but catch a little bit of it.
Vikram Baliga (27:03):
Exactly right. And I think like, you know, and that's, that's one of the ways I look at my job out here is like I teach some, but I do more greenhouse stuff, right. I manage the greenhouse and do this kind of thing. But like, if I don't care enough to make the hallways look good, if I don't care enough to keep like the, the garden kept and you know, the classrooms clean and all those things, like why should they care?
Kristin Bingham (27:26):
Yeah. That's like, it's almost subliminal messaging.
Vikram Baliga (27:30):
So, yeah. So I actually spoke to, um, well I don't even, let's say October 11th this is, you know, we're in the past now. We're in the future. How does that, this is being released in the future, whatever.
Kristin Bingham (27:43):
We invented time travel!
Vikram Baliga (27:43):
Yeah. Through, through, through podcasts. So future listeners, it is October 11th, but I just spoke to, um, an ag communications class this morning. Yeah. And, and one of the things I was, Oh, so we were talking about what is, what is scicomm? What is science communication? How do you do it? Uh, and like what, what things go into that? And so one thing that I always put in these lectures is something I learned from an old, um, training agent I had when I was in Extension is that everything speaks. Everything you do from like the shirt you wear to the temperature of the classroom to the distance, the desks are from each other.
Vikram Baliga (28:21):
All of that speaks to the learning experience. And so like, you know, whether like you said, it's subconscious, I think it is like whether the student or the learner, whether it's, you know, cause we, I think we've both done formal and informal education. Uh, everything informs their learning experience. And so you almost have to care enough as an educator to move tables and chairs and to do those little things to make the environment better.
Kristin Bingham (28:47):
Oh yeah. My, uh, my department chair and I have this conversation a lot. I in my big list of asks right there with the shark tank and the jellyfish habitat is a room where I have a U-shaped configuration of tables because I think that having those small classes where you're actually talking about really interesting subjects and really controversial subjects, if you're sitting in facing each other, instead of looking at me, we can get a lot better discussion about what's going on. And you know, in our greenhouse design that we've put together, I will have aU shaped teaching space for propagation and things like that. Like it's, it's, it's, I try to work anything like that I can into, because I think you're absolutely right. Everything you do affects that environment in the perception that students have and it's going to touch every aspect of that lecture that you present.
Vikram Baliga (29:37):
Yeah, no, absolutely controversial topics like climate change. [said with lots of reverb].
Kristin Bingham (29:40):
Oh, I like that.
Vikram Baliga (29:40):
I just figured out how to do effects on the sports. So, um...
Kristin Bingham (29:45):
You are so talented.
Vikram Baliga (29:47):
A dork is what I am.
Kristin Bingham (29:49):
I keep good company.
Vikram Baliga (29:50):
It can be both. Um, so no, but that's, that's really interesting. Like just the idea that you can take the space. And I think that idea in a greenhouse space is really cool. That, you know, cause greenhouses tend to be very linear, right? Like everything's laid out in line and you stand in a row and you do things. And as an instructor you wander around behind people and try to look over their shoulders.
Kristin Bingham (30:10):
That's not creepy.
Vikram Baliga (30:12):
It's, yeah, yeah, no absolutely not. And uh, but to be able to stand in the middle of your students and that's really cool now.
Kristin Bingham (30:19):
And as you know, I'm thinking about that. I don't, I realize that's a pattern in my life. I didn't know it was there because when I took over the greenhouses, our teaching greenhouse hasU shaped plant benches now so that students can get in there and work around each other and they're not in perfect lines. It's, it's something that apparently I feel strongly about and wasn't aware of.
Vikram Baliga (30:39):
The letter "U" is great.
Kristin Bingham (30:40):
It comes up a lot. Even in labs, you know, I freak out in my labs when things aren't just where I left them, but my lab is that perfect mix of chaos and order where when you look on any shelf or any wall, you're going to see something that's interesting that maybe shouldn't be there. You know, is that really where we want to keep that particular animal skin? But we want, I want those things there because they're visually stimulating. If you're going to daydream in my class, cool, we'll look at something cool while you daydream but then come back to what we're talking about and make sure you get back up with the notes. So I think, I think finding that, that environment that really stimulates conversation both during the lecture and outside of it of, Hey, what's this? Why, why do you have this polar bear? You know, stepping, I know we've got all sorts of stuff it sounds like.
Vikram Baliga (31:27):
Yeah, that's cool though. Um, so I've asked this, so I think of a couple of different guests that have come in, but you know, being in multiple parts of this industry, uh, on the education side, I mean, like, it's, you're mostly on the education side, but you've done community education through the master gardeners. You've, you know, thought about other projects in terms of like..
Kristin Bingham (31:46):
I do a ton of propagation and growing off and trying to, so, um, I'll tell you real quick, um, on October 17th, so again, not sure when this is happening, but we're doing this spooky succulents class. What is all informal education at a wine tasting room in Levelland. So we're gonna, I'm going to show up with pumpkin's and moss and succulent cuttings and we're gonna make a planter and that's so cool. So I love, yeah, all of the different types of education.
Vikram Baliga (32:13):
So future listeners, sorry you missed this, but, uh, I mean, but I'll link to it. We'll link to blog posts or something and those things will happen again. Right?
Kristin Bingham (32:23):
Oh, for sure. Yeah. How could you not do that again? It's the cutest thing ever.
Vikram Baliga (32:28):
You're mixing like what wineries and succulents and pumpkins.
Kristin Bingham (32:33):
Who doesn't love that?
Vikram Baliga (32:33):
That's pretty cool.
Kristin Bingham (32:34):
Speaks to a whole generation right there. Wineries, wine and succulents. It really does. I know my market.
Vikram Baliga (32:40):
I know you do. It's like it's like Painting with a Twist, but with plants. The twist is that you're not painting it's plants instead.
Kristin Bingham (32:46):
I know. And people are a lot less intimidated.
Vikram Baliga (32:49):
That's cool. Um, so where do you see this industry heading? Um, in terms of on the education side as bcause, in my opinion, over the next number of years, however many years, things have to change a little bit in education, the way we approach things, the way that everything is structured. So whether on the plant, maybe both Mather on the plant side or the education side, where do you see us heading? Where do you think we're going to be in five or 10 or 15 years?
Kristin Bingham (33:14):
You know, that's an interesting question from our, our position in speaking specifically about what we do at South Queens College, we don't have online sciences. We don't just really offer those in the biology department because the lab facility in that lab environment is such an important part of what we do. We really want that to be hands on. And so that's a question we've had in our own departmental discussions is, okay, what, what does that look like? And we're really kind of focusing on that in class experience. Um, and trying to stay with that as much as we can. I think over the next, you know, five, 10, 15 years, there's going to have to be some more transition there to having more of an online presence because I think that's, that's where most of our students are going to continue to be from. I think that the marketability of the traditional education degree, um, the bachelor's degree and things like that, we're seeing that the market's flooded to a degree with them, um, and so it's going to have to change, I think in terms of, you know, education as a whole. There's always going to be people who want to learn and we just gotta find out how to meet them where they are in that. That's what I think we've done a really good job of is, is meeting students where they are, no matter what their background is or where they come from and helping them get to where they want to go. That's the whole point of kind of the community college and so I really, I think that we'll continue to be viable in that arena for people who want a higher education. And I just, I think that the mechanism of delivery is going to have to change.
Vikram Baliga (34:51):
Yeah, I totally agree. The, the traditional student already almost doesn't exist anymore. Already almost doesn't, you know, it's not like, you know, a number of years ago where you could work five, 10 hours a week and pay for things. You know, a lot of our kids...our kids, I'm getting old...
Kristin Bingham (35:08):
Did you say five or 10 years ago?
Vikram Baliga (35:10):
No, no, no, no, no. I don't know what I said. I have no idea what I said. In the past, a couple of generations ago, you could work super part time, put yourself through school. Not everyone was doing it. A lot of people weren't going to school, or were doing trade schools, things like that. But now a lot of our students are working 40 hour jobs and taking 18 hours of class and like there's just some like simple calculus to that, that doesn't work.
Kristin Bingham (35:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
Vikram Baliga (35:38):
And so I think that as, as departments, as you know, institutes of higher learning, we've got to adapt to that and um, you know, make it about the education of our students. Again, because we, and I say this on a podcast that's going at a major research university, but I really feel like we should this, this needs to be about the kids that are here learning. I say kids, those men and women that are here learning.
Kristin Bingham (36:03):
Absolutely. You know, I think whenever I was going through Tech, there was a big push for be on time and finish your degree in four years and it just, it wasn't a viable model, then I think for a lot of people and it just has kind of that those ideas of a four year degree being a four year degree gets further and further away every year as you have more and more students that are doing all of this other stuff in addition to going to college. Or they're just bypassing college and they're, you know, getting careers based on their digital skills based on a whole different market that we're not even touching. It has to change. Something has to change. Something's got to give or this model will be completely obsolete, but there will, I think there's viability in, in what we offer.
Kristin Bingham (36:51):
The education that that you get from an institution, from the people in that institution is invaluable. That's where the connection is and that that's where we focus is what can I do for you, to help you get where you want to go? And that's what's going to save education I think.
Vikram Baliga (37:07):
Okay. No, I think you're totally right. That's really a great thought and a great way to think about it that, yeah, I mean...
Kristin Bingham (37:14):
Dare I say it's a customer service industry? It is and, that's what I see in, we do, can we do course evaluations? So I'm evaluated pretty much every semester by my students and, and I always tell them when we do evaluations, you know, this is feedback that I get directly from you. I don't know who sends it. I don't, I don't see your names or anything like that. I can't tell who you are, but if you'll tell me what I can do better for the next group, all you're doing is improving my service. And I really like, you know, constructive criticism is a good thing. So if you've got something that I can improve on so that the next student is a little bit better than we're doing our job here.
Vikram Baliga (37:51):
Yeah. That's awesome.
Kristin Bingham (37:53):
Kinda scary as well. I mean my students are, they're great and they like what we're doing. So that's all that matters.
Vikram Baliga (38:02):
Yeah, I agree. So, uh, at the end of our episodes to I guess kinda thank people for hanging in there with us for the whole episode, um, I try to like ask the people that come on for a tip like the garden tip, greenhouse tip, education tip, whatever you want to give just to, just to make it good and broad and really hard to narrow something down.
Vikram Baliga (38:22):
So, okay, let's, let's take this since we've been talking more, I think education than plants. Let's go this way. Um, if you had one tip that you could give an incoming student, whether you are 18 years old or 48 years old or anyone coming into school, what would that be?
Kristin Bingham (38:39):
Try everything. Do everything. I think it's so funny when we ask 18 year olds, and I did this today with my nine year old at lunch, I was talking to one of his little friends. I said, well, what do you want to be when you grew up? She's like, I don't know. I was like, that's the best answer. If you don't know, that's okay. Try everything. I took a law enforcement class in college cause I was like, maybe I want to be a lawyer, do something with the legal system. Glad I took it, wasn't for me, but being willing to get up there and it's not really wasting a three hour credit, but being willing to step out of your box and try something new just to see how it fits, I think is critical to that college experience.
Kristin Bingham (39:19):
And we talk about developing well-rounded students. That's kind of lost some of its meaning, I think in today's society. But the whole point of college is to expose you to all this other stuff in history and in government, in the sciences and art, so that we have people who are knowledgeable about a little bit of everything and not just on a track to go be a doctor somewhere. We want, I want students to know it's okay to learn a little bit about everything and if you don't like it, it's okay to change. You know, change tracks midstream, nobody's always going to get really super upset about that because it's your life. So yeah, try everything.
Vikram Baliga (39:56):
That's great advice.
Kristin Bingham (39:57):
And the greenhouse tip I would give was, you're not really a gardener until you've killed about a thousand plants. So just throw it in the trash and keep going.
Vikram Baliga (40:05):
Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you kill it, you're going to kill a few tomatoes along the way.
Kristin Bingham (40:10):
That's what I tell my, when we hire student assistants and that's who does, that's who do most of the work in our greenhouse and garden. And I'm like, listen, if you kill it, it's okay. Just tell me so I can buy another one.
Vikram Baliga (40:19):
Yeah, there's more plants out there. We'll find them. For now, at least.
Kristin Bingham (40:19):
I know how to order things online.
Vikram Baliga (40:27):
So where can we find you? Plug whatever you want to plug.
Kristin Bingham (40:30):
Gosh, I forgot. Um, so I'm on Facebook just at Kristin Bingham on Facebook. I'm on Instagram, I'm @KLBingham, and then our garden out at the college. Our garden in greenhouses is the garden at South Plains college and it's on both Instagram and Facebook. So you can check us out there, see what events are coming. I also share my community events there. So any sort of informal education that's coming up, that's where you can find out more for now.
Vikram Baliga (40:57):
Awesome. Hey, thanks for coming in.
Kristin Bingham (40:59):
Well thanks for having me.
Vikram Baliga (41:00):
It was fun.
Kristin Bingham (41:00):
I hope we stayed on topic.
Vikram Baliga (41:02):
Oh, it doesn't even matter.
Kristin Bingham (41:03):
We do kind of wander.
Vikram Baliga (41:03):
We do, but it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. So thanks as always everyone. Thank you so much for listening and uh, just being a part of what we're doing here. If you've got questions, um, comments, whatever, we'd love to hear from you. So take care and we'll see you next time.
Kristin Bingham (41:17):
Bye.
Vikram Baliga (voiceover) (41:19):
So what I hope you took away from that is that life is not a straight line and that the changes and things that we go through, the new ideas and the new career paths and uh, educational paths and all of that is good and it's awesome. And it you are not locked in to the first thing you do. So I hope you find something you really enjoy and something you really love to do with your life. Thanks so much for listening. It is always fun to have you with us here on Planthropology. Kristin was great and I hope you really got a lot out of that episode. As always, you can find us by searching for Planthropology on all of the social medias, you can get in touch on our website. Don't forget, leave us some reviews, check out the Patreon if you'd like to find some really cool rewards and support what we're doing here and just make the show bigger and better. Like I said, here comes a quick look and some information about the Catabolic Conversations podcast that Kristin is a host of. I hope you'll check it out and I hope you'll be with us next time when I interview entomologist Erfan Vafaie, who's just one of the funniest people I think I've ever met. Take care and we'll see you in a couple of weeks.
Kristin Bingham (42:40):
Hey, I'm Kristen Bingham.
Megan Keith (42:41):
And I'm Megan Keith.
Kristin Bingham (42:43):
and we host a podcast called Catabolic Conversations.
Megan Keith (42:46):
where we're breaking it down. We are a couple of biology professors who love sharing science with undergrad students.
Kristin Bingham (42:51):
We cover a variety of topics, including deep dives into lecture material and tips on surviving and thriving as a science major. You can check out our show by visiting www.southplainscollege.edu/catabolicconversations or find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @catabolicconvos. See you soon!