My Scholarship is Guided by this Question:
How do we be and Belong— to ourselves, each other, and this world?
Current Projects
CREATIVE SCholarship
Belonging
This is applied, participatory action research focuses on building belonging. We are exploring our environmental impacts as humans using plastic. We’re documenting our work with videos, collage, and comics.
Translation
Translating nerdy research deep dives into bitsize accessible and compelling content, using puppets, interviews, and comics.
Classes
Comic-making classes. Scroll down for more details and to sign up.
As a biology professor…
I think a lot about what and how we teach biology.
How and what we learn matters.
Plastic pollution. Climate change. Invasive species. Ecological change. Migration.
Being in the world
Nervous systems. Stress. Anxiety. Depression. Fight, flight, freeze, fawn. Trauma. Epigenetics. Race. Genetics. Identity and biology.
Being in our bodies
Finding info
Using AI or not. Finding high quality sources of scientific information. The process of doing science.
What do we do with all of this research? Why does science matter? How do we apply what we learn to make decisions to improve our lives and support our communities?
Making decisions
As a researcher…
I think a lot about how we do this together.
Together with student researchers and collaborators near and far, we’ve explored questions such as:
What do you need to learn in biology?
Who belongs in Biology?
How do we Teach biology?
How do we make biology accessible?
My scholarship is inspired by…
bell hooks, philosopher: “queer as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it, and it has to invent and create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live”
Christine Sun Kim, artist: "I've just been noticing that my life is just one big echo. Or, rather, maybe just small echoes that become one big echo, and that's something that's been a part of my life since I was born.”
Michael Wesch, anthropologist: Most of what we take as “reality” is a cultural construction—“real-ized” through our unseen, unexamined assumptions of what is right, true, or possible.
Comics, especially non-fiction comics
I’m passionate about the impact of creative, accessible research methodologies & dissemination of findings.
Comics!
SUMMER 2026
ComicS Classes
Workshop: How to Start
In this workshop, we’ll explore how to start making comics and meet any resistance with tenderness.
We’ll dive into working through prompts, practice new techniques to ease into making, share our work,
and build our capacity for actually doing the thing.
* No drawing experience needed *
Details: up to 15 people (18+ years old) | Wed June 10 @ 7 - 8:30 PM EST | $40 | zoom
Sign up with a friend for $10 off each. Sliding scale spots available.
Workshop: Telling Hard Stories
* Thorny Family Issues Edition *
What are the stories that tug at you to be told? What are the stories that keep us small?
I believe that we can free ourselves and find our way out by telling these stories.
In this ask-me-anything Q & A + drawing workshop, we’ll dive into what it’s like to write about the stories that we’re most scared to tell, how to write about the most challenging moments of our lives, and explore practices to take care of ourselves through the process.
You’ll leave a little more brave and open-hearted.
* No drawing experience needed *
Details: up to 15 people (18+ years old) | Dates TBD soon | $60 | zoom
1 to 1 Comics Editing
* Support to tell your story *
Struggling? Let’s work together!
I’ll help you to get unstuck, and offer feedback to go deeper and braver places in your work.
Details: 1-to-1 comics editing | $150 | 1 hour on zoom
TESTIMONIALS
“It’s fabulous and just the right amount of scary.”
“It’s the class you didn’t know you needed.”
“I loved this class! I had never attempted a comic before and was easily able to dive in and get creative with the different prompts. CK is approachable and kind, and provides a wonderful online space to get creative and build community.”
“You’ll discover things you didn’t know about yourself and you’ll start paying attention to your days in a different way.”
“Your future self will thank you for signing up.”