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Laura Ambrose
Did You Know?
Luther College students are eligible for an additional $100,000 in academic awards – in addition to scholarships and bursaries awarded by the U of R.
Luther College is recognized for its high standards of teaching, focused research, and one-on-one academic advising. We value and protect this heritage of excellence in scholarship, freedom of inquiry, and faithful seeking after truth.
Living in The Student Village at Luther College, our student residence, comes with a choice of healthy, nutritious meal plans. That means no grocery shopping, no meals to cook, and no dirty dishes to worry about. You can focus on your studies and wellness!
Our student residence, The Student Village at Luther College, welcomes residents from ALL post-secondary institutions in Regina. Rooms come with a meal plan, free laundry, free wi-fi, and a great sense of community.
Eating better means studying better. The Luther Cafeteria offers fresh, healthy, nutritious meals seven days a week with a self-serve “all-you-care-to-eat” concept students prefer.
Luther College students are U of R students and receive all the same benefits. Upon graduation you will receive a U of R degree.
Smaller class sizes at Luther College means more individualized attention and better connections with your professors, classmates, and academic advisors.
Luther College offers Bundles programs that group together first-year students and classes to give you a great start and help ease the transition from high school to university.
Laura Ambrose
LC 113
laura.ambrose@uregina.ca
Laura Ambrose is a Lecturer responsible for the first year, non-major biology courses, BIOL 140 and BIOL 150. Laura teaches lectures and labs in person and online, most commonly teaching BIOL 140 in both formats. Laura has been teaching at Luther College, the University of Regina, and First Nations University since 1999.
Laura attended the University of Regina for a few years before moving out of the province to explore new horizons where she attended the University of Toronto (Scarborough) and completed an Honours degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Studies (Distinction) in 1994. In her final year, Laura completed a research project that resulted in the publication of the results in the Canadian Journal of Zoology, in a paper titled Trophic dynamics of two sympatric species of riparian spider (Araneae: Tetragnathidae). After that, and because Saskatchewan called her home, she returned to the University of Regina to work in a plant ecology lab, and a limnology lab, for a few years before starting research for a Master of Science degree. Laura completed her research on prairie restoration and received her M.Sc. in 1999. Her thesis, titled Seed persistence of an introduced and a native grass species in a prairie old field, looked at the survival of seeds in the soil and the potential for seeding fields with prairie species to restore native prairie. This research was part of a larger research project on restoring native prairie at Grasslands National Park. Other research projects included population dynamics of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), community dynamics of native prairie, and nitrogen deposition in prairie and forest habitats.
Current areas of interest include using sound pedagogy to engage students as scholars, introduce students to applied sciences through case study work, implementing technology in the lab and classroom, and coaching students through transitions into, throughout, and out of university. Laura co-wrote ancillary materials for the introductory textbook Life Matters: Connecting biology to your world (2016). In 2017 Laura won the Centre for Teaching and Learning Award for Innovation in Teaching from the University of Regina.
Laura strives to be helpful to her colleagues by sharing what she has learned about pedagogy, accessibility in classrooms and labs, and Universal Design for Learning. Laura has presented on the use of Open Education Resources (OER) to the campus community and to educators at an international microbiology conference. In the interest of maintaining currency in her field of teaching and improving delivery of online biology, Laura was recently awarded funding from Distance and Distributed Learning (DDL) for the 3rd time. This project is part of on-going work with students and colleagues to improve teaching and learning in non-major biology courses.
Outside of the university, Laura reads (send your reading suggestions!), has a mild fibre collection addiction, devotes time to creating knitted garments, travels to places near and far, and spends time with family. Laura spent 15 years volunteering at schools, Girl Guides, as an official for swimming, and in the Canadian Ski Patrol.
Courses Taught
BIOL 140 – Human Biology
BIOL 150 – Biological Principles
IDS 101 – Contemporary Issues
ENVS 100 – Introduction to Indigenous Environmental Science
BIOL 100 and BIOL 101 – Biology I and Biology II
ENEV 322 – Applied Microbial Systems