Office Phone:
760-245-4271, x2467
Location:
Bldg 31, Room 20 (check also
room 3 or 11, as I often hold office
hours in those classrooms)
Office Hours:
8:45 - 9:30 a.m., Mon. - Thurs.
Email:
pamela.mackay@vvc.edu
Pamela Mackay
,
Professor, Biological Sciences
B.S., California Polytechnic University, Pomona, M.S., California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and ABD (all Ph.D. work completed except dissertation project) at the University of California, Riverside
Biography
Education: I earned two Bachelor of Science Degrees from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. After receiving the first one in Biological Sciences in 1975, I went to work for a podiatrist. However, I soon discovered that I was not cut out for a medical career, and I really wanted to spend more time outside. Also, I knew from the time I was very young that I wanted to study plants, and being a podiatrist's assistant did not leave much time to do this, so I went back to school and two quarters later earned the second B.S. degree in Botany. I also returned to Cal Poly a few years later and earned my Master of Science Degree in Biological Sciences. After teaching part-time at community colleges for six years, I enrolled in the Ph.D. program in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California at Riverside. I completed all of the course work, and I passed the written exams in 1992. By this time I had received an Natural Reserve System grant for a dissertation project, which involved studying the effects of introduced weeds on some native annual plant species at the UC Motte-Rimrock Reserve. However, in 1992 I landed a full-time position at VVC, and I soon realized what a tremendous amount of work and time it took to prepare for VVC classes and do a good job. I did not have enough time to devote to the job, my children, and my dissertation, so I eventually terminated the project and my Ph.D. program. Even though I did not complete the project, taking the Ph.D. coursework has served me well in my career, and I continued taking supplemental classes after that. Although I haven't taken any additional courses for several years now, I try to keep up in my field by reading scientific journals and attending conferences and seminars regularly.
Teaching experience: I have been teaching at VVC as a full-time instructor since 1992, and I am now a full professor. I also served as the Biology Department Chair for several years, but I did not enjoy the responsibility and wished to focus on teaching. I mostly teach microbiology and biology majors' courses, and I occasionally teach botany, ecology and genetics. This past spring (2013) I got to teach Health 102 for the PE Department, which was so fun and interesting! I am scheduled to teach this course again in spring of 2014.
Additional Information
Teaching natural history courses has been the highlight of my biology teaching career! I have taken students on exciting journeys to numerous tropical areas, including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Hawaii, and Belize. In 2005 I went on a trip (not sponsored by VVC) to Malaysia arranged by Dr. Hinrich Kaiser, and in winter of 2011 I traveled to Australia (Queensland area) and New Zealand (south island). There are many more travel plans in the works, including parts of Europe, South Africa, and Patagonia in South America.