“I’m always looking for ways to make an existing course even better; the day one can ‘give a lecture in one’s sleep’ is the day one should put that particular lecture to sleep--permanently.”

Given the toughness of student evaluators, it’s virtually unheard of for 100 percent to answer yes to “Would you take another class with this instructor?” Yet Todd Arnold has done it multiple times, even in a statistics-laden course like Analysis of Populations.

Arnold possesses the gift of infectious enthusiasm not only for waterfowl biology and management (his special interests) but also for the whole realm of conservation and stewardship of natural resources. Student after student reports that a class with him isn’t just a learning experience but a life-changing event.

In class, he has a knack for making students confront their responsibilities as global citizens to resist the lure of consumer society, without leaving them feeling powerless or ashamed. His “if the door’s open, come in” policy, his use of humor to make a point, and his prompt response--at all hours--to student e-mails also make him a favorite.

Outside the classroom, Arnold has labored mightily to give students a learning environment second to none. For example, he led his department through a major curriculum revision in 2003 and is now doing it again. He also helped create a new University-wide minor in sustainability studies and cocreated the core course for the minor.

Perhaps most importantly, Arnold teaches the value of questioning. Says one former student, “His classes inspired critical thinking by having students critique existing literature, making us realize that not everything in print was to be taken as unquestionable truth.”

Visit the Todd Arnold faculty Web page here.