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Wednesday, May 1,2013 $
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Instructor brings new life to biology
Sagri Niles
The Clackamas Print
“I have a long and checkered
past,” said Tory Blackwell.
Tory Blackwell is referring of
course to his years teaching and
doing. scientific research. It is
important to note that this quote
was followed by a laugh that
represents Blackwell’s sense of
humor and wit.
Blackwell is a new hire at
Clackamas Community College
and the end of this term will
mark his first year at the college.
Blackwell teaches entry level
biology course and is currently
teaching General Biology 103.
He has taught anatomy
and physiology at Parkland
Community College in Illinois,
and undergraduate research
courses at the University of
Illinois. From 2006 up until
he was hired at CCC, he has
primarily been doing research
and teaching part-time. '
The research he was doing
is undoubtedly interesting and
involved real world applications.
“The first project I was on
in Illinois, which I was on for
about five years, was research
on fragile x protein, so fragile
x disorder is in autism class
of disorders. I like to describe
it as sort of a combination of
Down’s Syndrome and autism,”
said Blackwell.
Another
major
project
involved the study of bees.
“I spent about a year and a
h a lf lo o k in g at fat storage in
honey bees, because honey bees
Tory Blackwell works with his students in his 1 to 2:50 p.m. biology lab class. He adjusts the focus on the microscope
to better observe the specimen in the petri dish below, while his students record observations o f their own.
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that live in a hive that nurse
honey bees are fatty? They have
huge fat storages, but the ones
that you usually see out on plants
don’t have very much fat. The
idea is if we could understand
which genes get turned on and
off when you go from being a
nurse to a forager, then we could
understand how that switch from
fatty to skinny works,” said
Blackwell.
Most of the research that
Blackwell has done has been
at the basic level, the level of
research that lays the groundwork
and precedence for study into
larger levels that culminate into
clinical research that gets applied
to human beings.
Students at CCC have come
to enjoy Blackwell’s classes and
teaching style in particular.
“He’s a good teacher; he
really is. He knows his stuff.
He’s definitely put the research
in on the biology parts, especially
with the way the class is set up
working with the workbooks,”
said student Michael Ando.
Jennifer Bown the Science
Department Chair has noticed
the students liking to Blackwell
as well.
“I’ve heard nothing but great
things, they’re always lined up
at his door. He seems to be very
patient with them and he always
spends a lot of time in the lab,”
said Bown.
Bown was responsible for
hiring Blackwell last year.
.“He just has a dynamite
background, wonderful energy.
He’s got a tremendous amount
of molecular biology which is
something we wanted to bring
in and infuse in our science
program,” said Bown.
Although Blackwell’s main
interest is science, he shares
other hobbies as well.
“I have a seven year old arid a
four year old so right now most
of our hobbies are very child
centric, both of my boys are both
into comic books, we went to
the Portland Comic-Con. We are
going to the Stump Town Comic-
Con because they just really love
to see people dressed up,” said
Blackwell.
The year so far has been
enjoyable for Blackwell, the
science department and students
alike. Blackwell’s impression of
students at CCC has been very
positive.
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2 Miles fro m CCC, Just o ff HWY 213 On Redland Rd. & Holcom b Blvd.