GPI - Richard Beckwitt, Professor of Biology

Julien Fernandez / THE GATEPOST

By Bella Grimaldi Asst. News Editor What is your academic and professional background? I was trained as a marine biologist. I went to graduate school in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California. I worked a number of jobs in Los Angeles - teaching and research. And then took this job in 1985. So I’ve been on the faculty here since 1985. Which, if my count is right, this is my 40th year. When I stopped doing research in marine biology, I ended up doing research in a bunch of other very strange areas. I worked on the genetic engineering of spider silk for a while, and then I worked on the population genetics of hippos for a while. And I had a more recent project on white tail deer on Nantucket. What I like to do is make sure I have projects where students can be actively involved. So all of those projects involved students - research projects for their capstone work. What brought you to Framingham State? The offer of a tenure-track position. Tenure-track positions are relatively hard to find. And this was a position to teach marine biology. They specifically wanted a marine biologist, and those jobs are really hard to find. What led you to teaching biology? It’s interesting - I did not particularly think I wanted to be a teacher. But when I was in graduate school, I paid my way by being what is called a teaching assistant. So as a graduate student, they let you teach laboratories or some other small classes. And I found I kind of liked it. When I finished my degree, I taught full-time in Los Angeles for a couple of years, and then I had a full-time research position in Los Angeles for five or six years - and I realized I missed teaching. There’s something about the personal interaction you have with students that you don’t get if your nose is buried in the lab all day - you don’t see people. So now I like to do both. I like to do some research, but I also like the human interaction of teaching. What is your teaching philosophy? I want students to understand how ideas and information fit together. I’m not really interested in students memorizing a lot of stuff. But I want them to understand how the facts inform our ideas of how the world works - how things fit together. That's what I'm most interested in. What are your hobbies or something students wouldn’t expect about you? I play guitar, but not in public. I would not inflict that on someone else. I play what is called ragtime - fingerstyle, acoustic guitar. I like to go for walks in the woods. I like going to art museums. I like going to look at interesting things other people have done. My wife is an artist and an art historian, so she educates me. I follow her around, and she tells me what's interesting about that. My favorite all time [museum] would be the MET in New York. It's just overwhelming. The MFA in Boston is lovely. The ICA, Institute of Contemporary Art, in Boston is lovely. And MASS MoCA out in North Adams is lovely - I love going to all those places. I like the fact they change things, so every time we’re traveling and come through, we see something new. I just find it fascinating what people are able to do. What advice do you have for students at Framingham State? Go to class. I think that's the most successful thing you can do - go to class. When you’re in class, ask questions, answer questions. Don’t just hide in the back. They’ll do two important things. Your instructors get to know you and will interact with you. The more they know you, the more they interact with you than if you were kind of a blank face in the corner or the back - they don’t know who this person is. The other thing is by asking questions - even if it’s really embarrassing to ask a question in front of all these people. Everybody else in the class is silently saying “thank you” because they’re also having their question asked. The more interactive a class is, the better you retain the material. I think being passive is the hardest way to learn. I think the other thing is you don’t know what’s going to be interesting until you try it. I think a lot of students are hesitant. They say, “I don’t know anything about that. I don't want to learn that because I don’t know anything about it. I’m going to take a class where I’m already confident that I know something” because you get anxious not knowing what’s going to happen. My feeling, especially in biology, is that there isn’t anything which isn’t interesting. If you spend a little time thinking about it and learning about it, there is something fascinating going on, because biology is fun.