Dr. Anne Axel came to Marshall in August 2012 from the University of Michigan, where she had been since September 2009. She is an assistant professor of biology and remote sensing in MU's department of biological sciences. Axel takes a simple approach to teaching. My first rule of thumb is that learning should be taken seriously, but it should also be enjoyable," she said. "I show my students that it's OK to laugh in class. Each day, I start with an amazing photo, a screenshot of a relevant news item, or something silly. "I ask students to tell me what they know about the image. I share my excitement with them, and we chat about how it's related to something we have seen in class. Sometimes, they ask great questions that just can't be ignored, so I allow the short detour. This is important because, here, at this moment you can see students beginning to take responsibility for their own learning
Axel earned her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 2011.