Dr. Kenjiro Quides is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. His research interests are microbial evolution and ecology and strategies to improve student engagement, retention, and opportunities for collaborative learning.

How did you decide to study biology and student engagement/retention research?

I was not a fan of biology in High School. Science in general, yes, but I was always more interested in math, problem solving, and creating tools/things. At the time, I didn’t realize the role these played in being a biologist. My family definitely thought I would go the engineering route. It wasn’t until I got to college, and I dove head first into Ecology and Evolution that I really began to appreciate biology. The math was definitely still there. There were still plenty of problems to solve, whether it was how to design an experiment that appropriately tests your hypothesis or how to pivot an experiment when supplies suddenly run out. As for creating tools, I am constantly thinking about how to (re)create an environment that will allow whatever organism I am growing to flourish.

My interests in student engagement/retention date back to my childhood. Specifically, the opportunity, or lack thereof, for some individuals to participate in something. How can students engage if they are never given the opportunity? How are students retained if their opportunity is taken away from them? My mom would regularly give extra field trip money to my teachers to help families that may not have been able to afford a field trip. Every student deserved the opportunity to go to a museum, go on an overnight retreat, or even just enjoy an amusement park. My dad was always ready to give my teammates a ride to a game. They loved baseball, they were good at baseball, but sometimes their parent’s schedules made it exceedingly difficult to make the 1-hour drive for a tournament. Every player deserved the opportunity to showcase their talent.

Another way I think about engagement/retention is to think about it from a student interest perspective. I was an annoying kid that had two very common sayings growing up, “Mom, I’m bored…” and “I want to, but I don’t”. You could probably say these have become central questions to how I now think about student engagement/retention as well. How do I minimize how often a student is thinking “Dr. Quides, I’m bored…”? How do I encourage students to stop at “I want to” and leave out the “but I don’t” when it comes to their learning? (FWIW, my wife still says I say these things. I deny it though.)

I love that I am now able to meld microbial evolution and ecology with my approach to teaching and learning. This exact combination is a recent development within the past few years, but the pieces that built up to this point were decades in the making.

How have your past experiences prepared you for working at UC Davis/Did you have any other jobs?

I have been in academics my entire life. I never had more than 7 months between K-12, Undergraduate, PhD, Post-doc, and my position at UCD. I have had several side jobs during this time and there is a bit of a theme. I was a camp counselor at a summer sports camp, I coached baseball, and I tutored a lot. All of these were very mentorship/teaching focused. I also built high-end audiophile loudspeakers during college breaks. Again, creating things is fun! Lastly, I drove for Lyft for a couple months in its early days. You meet some interesting people doing that!

What do you love about teaching at UC Davis?

The students! I love the energy they bring. No matter how tired I am as I walk to class early in the morning or at the end of the day, I get rejuvenated when I step in front of my students.

Beyond being a professor, what are some outside hobbies that you enjoy right now?

Cooking. Beyond throwing a quick dinner together, I like to experiment with recipes using different ingredients and cooking methods. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, but that’s half the fun for me! Recent success, “carbo-nitas” (carbonara with carnitas, not the fossil). Recent failure, tri-color carrot purée. It tasted fine, but the expected vibrant purple mixed with the orange to create a rusty brown.

What would students be surprised to find out about you?

I am pretty open with my students. Maybe that’s the most surprising thing? Many of the answers above might also surprise my students since they aren’t things I usually talk about in this much detail. In my class, I regularly bring up about my love of sports, video games I play, anime I watch, food I like to cook, the joy of driving a stick shift car, the music I listen to when I develop lesson plans. All of those seem to raise some eyebrows. I usually mention these things in passing during class, but it’s fun when students circle back to these topics after class or during student office hours.

Oh, and I’m a crazy cat dad. I “only” have three, but they run my house. Specter (2.5yo), Ricochet (6-7 months), and Asteroid (6 months).

What is the best piece of advice anyone has given you?

Enjoy the little things in life. No, I’m not referring to microbes here, but equally valid! It’s very easy to get swept up when life feels chaotic, but sometimes we just need to remember to take a step back and appreciate all the little things that make us smile every day.