Unique minor calls for professor with unique experience
by Jamie Floyd, posted Dec. 7, 2007
Trista Strauch just may have the most unique teaching position at MU, even if she doesn’t really show it.
Some teachers just have a way with their students. Every college student needs that one teacher he or she can go to for advice or help or talk to when college life gets tough. Strauch is just that kind of a teacher. Although she has a very unique education and teaching position at MU, she is just as down-to-earth as the average College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources student.
Strauch is the instructor for the "Introduction to Captive Wild Animal Management" course. The captive wild animal management minor is a new addition to CAFNR this year. The minor is for students majoring in animal science or fisheries and wildlife. MU is one of the only colleges in the U.S. to have a minor like this; therefore, the minor takes an instructor with a special kind of background.
An alumna of MU, Strauch has a bachelor's degree in animal sciences along with a master's degree in animal sciences with an emphasis in ruminant nutrition and reproduction. She also has a doctoral degree in reproductive physiology from Texas A&M University. She decided while she was still an undergraduate that she wanted to teach at the university level.
“Being an alum of Mizzou, this has always been where I really wanted to teach,” Strauch said.
According to her colleagues, MU is right where she should be teaching.
Jim Spain, MU vice provost for undergraduate studies and associate professor of dairy nutrition, has known Strauch since she was an undergraduate student at MU.
“Trista is very unselfish and is interested in how we can all help Mizzou to be an even greater University, in how the University serves Missouri," Spain said. "She is especially interested in finding ways we can better serve our students.”
Jackie Atkins, a graduate research assistant in the division of animal sciences, is also the teaching assistant for Strauch’s captive wild animal management class. Atkins agrees with Spain that Strauch is a benefit to MU, and she sees Strauch's genuine care and concern for her students both that she teaches and advises.
“Dr. Strauch clearly cares about education and her students,” Atkins said. “She is an excellent face for the University of Missouri and will benefit many through her enthusiasm, intelligence and hard work.”
Some of those who may benefit are the students in the captive wild animal management course.
“The best thing about coordinating this minor is working with the students,” Strauch said. “They are very excited about the minor, and it makes the position very rewarding.”
Strauch both teaches and advises CAFNR students. It is obvious that she greatly enjoys her job and her students.
Kelsey Sibley is a student in the captive wild animal management introduction course. She said the thing she enjoys most about Strauch’s teaching style is that she is very involved in the class. She also likes the fact that at the beginning of the year, Strauch took a picture of all of her students so that she could get to know them by name.
“I had never had a teacher in a large class know my name before her class, so it felt really good to know that she cared about us enough to know all of our names,” Sibley said.
Strauch also requires her students to go on a field trip during the course of the class. She attends every field trip that she asks her students to go on, which has included visits to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kan., the Kansas City Zoo and Whitetail Dreams in Callaway County.
“Since the class doesn't have a lab, students were required to attend one of the trips – many chose to go to several – and then write a short paper about their experience,” Strauch said.
Sibley also said the field trips are one reason why Strauch is such a good teacher.
Besides her colleagues' and students' admiration for her, Strauch seems to be very well-suited to teach in this unique position.
“Trista has a real passion for teaching and working with students," Spain said. "Given the focus of her role in the MU captive wild animal management program, she is very well suited for the position.”.
Strauch worked with a captive deer herd while completing her doctoral studies at Texas A&M and has a background in both animal sciences and animal husbandry. She has much enthusiasm for the program and her studies.
“I have worked some with exotics, so it seemed a great opportunity to get back in the classroom and combine some of my unique experiences,” Strauch said.
With all of her accomplishments and honors, Strauch prides herself in her simple home life and MU spirit. She spends most of her free time being a mom to her two sons, Carson, 2, and Casper, almost 1. It is obvious that her boys mean the world to her by a quick glance around her office. She has a sea of pictures of the boys and her husband, Tim Safranski, who also teaches at MU.
Strauch also enjoys MU football. She holds season tickets and attends many of the games. She's also involved with the livestock on their farm outside of Columbia. However, after teaching and her family life, this true Tiger spends her days benefiting others and sometimes finds herself running out of daylight.
“I also like to garden but there's not enough time in the day ...” Strauch added.
However, where the gardening is lacking, MU is benefiting from this one of a kind teacher and colleague.
