Aaron Krochmal

 

Selected Honors and Awards 

Washington College Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching
Washington College Club Advisor of the Year
University of Houston - Downtown, Excellence in Teaching Award

 

Selected Recent Popular Press Coverage

A sensationalized view of Snapping turtle migration in LiveScience (60 million + views!)

Animal learning, memory, and migration, on National Public Radio’s The Academic Minute

Agribusiness goes hand-in-hand with animal conservation in New Scientist

Students learn about how animals learn in The Chronicle of Higher Education (scroll down)

Dr. Krochmal is an integrative organismal biologist interested in the behavior, physiology, and ecology of reptiles.   He uses techniques ranging from behavioral manipulations to neurological recordings to computational modeling to investigate how reptiles perceive, interact with, and navigate their environments. His research primarily focuses are the neurological, cognitive, behavioral, and ecological aspects of turtle migration, and the evolution of the infrared vision of pit vipers (rattlesnakes and their relatives). More recent side projects include investigations into the origins, maintenance, and ecological ramifications of personality in reptiles, and a long-term field study on rattle use among rattlesnakes.  He is widely published in top-tier national and international journals, with many publications co-authored by mentored undergraduate students; click here or here to view his publications. Additionally, he regularly lectures nationally and internationally on topics such as sensory ecology, animal migration, and the evolution of complex cognition.    
Professor Krochmal teaches General Biology I and II, and Integrative Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II, alongside occasional additional courses.  In the classroom, Aaron unites elements of progressivism and essentialism - often with an unconventional, whimsical, and irreverent flare - to create a dynamic, student-centered classroom in which academic risk is embraced and honest intellectual exchange thrives. For his dedication to teaching, and equally so, to his students, Aaron was awarded the 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award while he was on faculty at the University of Houston – Downtown, and 10 years later, the Washington College Alumni Association’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. 

When not engaged in teaching or research, Dr. Krochmal enjoys historical research (especially Italian-Byzantine interactions in the early Renaissance), music performance (he plays many instruments, though none of them particularly well), adventurous cooking and eating, and all manner of outdoor (mis)adventures hand-in-hand with his wife (though most of the time, they are living life in the slow lane, grading papers side-by-side on the couch).