With more than 340 students this fall semester, Thomas Fishwild said he truly enjoys seeing undecided undergraduate students chose a degree in biology after taking one of his courses. It is one of the many reasons why he loves teaching.

With a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree, both from Oakland University, Fishwild has been teaching as a special lecturer at OU for more than 10 years.

When he first began his education at OU, biology was not the route he had in mind. Fishwild was studying psychology and was also a photographer for The Oakland Post.

He later studied animal behavior and researched the paper wasp with his then master’s mentor, Dr. George Gamboa.

Dr. Gamboa describes Fishwild as an incredibly hard-working individual who is very honest.

But what sets him apart from others, Dr. Gamboa said, is his broad knowledge of biology and “so many other disciplines outside of biology, like paleontology, botany and ecology.”

“I’ve never met anyone so diverse,” he said.

Fishwild plans to continue teaching biology for 20 more years or so, commenting how the university biology department has changed and grown so rapidly over the years, that he plans to stick with it.

This fall semester, Fishwild has a full schedule of courses including two Biology 110 (Life on Earth) classes, a Biology 113 course covering the structure of plants and animals as well as a Biology 207 (Human Physiology) class.

Teaching courses year-round, Fishwild joked that although he is a special lecturer and is considered a part-time employee, he has a full-time schedule.

“I am a full-time part-timer,” he said.

One of his favorite styles of teaching is to incorporate “show and tell” into his classes, as a hands-on tool for learning, Fishwild said, bringing in several examples of various specimens to accompany his notes and diagrams.

Students who have had Fishwild for Human Biology and Life on Earth, attribute his humorous personality and well-prepared lectures to a successful course.

“He is very well thought of as a teacher,” Dr. Gamboa said. “Students really like him.”