By Dave DeFusco

Alexis Gillmore’s path to becoming a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill reflects a career built on teaching, mentorship and innovative problem-solving, and a unique fusion of engineering, soil science and environmental sustainability.

Dr. Gillmore’s teaching journey began at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), where she obtained a Ph.D. in plant, soil and environmental sciences, displaying an early dedication to education as she took on significant teaching roles in courses on interdisciplinary senior design and stormwater management.

In her interdisciplinary senior design course, she went beyond traditional teaching methods, redesigning the curriculum to integrate lessons on environmental impact assessment, product design and engineering economics. By mentoring 40 students annually on sponsored design projects, she ensured they gained not only technical expertise but also critical skills in communication, design ideation and stakeholder engagement.

For the stormwater management course, she provided feedback on weekly problem sets for 70 senior environmental science students, helping them refine their computational, analytical and contextual skills. Her ability to connect technical concepts to real-world applications made her an invaluable resource for students.

“Teaching engineers has been extremely important to me,” said Dr. Gillmore. “I’ve been guiding seniors in their capstone projects, helping them move beyond solving equations to developing new ideas and designing solutions for stakeholders.”

Her dedication to teaching excellence led her to pursue the CIRTL Associate Certification, an internationally recognized credential from the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning at UTK. Through this program, Dr. Gillmore honed her ability to incorporate evidence-based teaching strategies, fostering an inclusive and effective learning environment.

“This experience helped me see how I can use my creativity and empirical research skills as a teacher to help students learn,” she said.

Her commitment to diversity and inclusion began during her undergraduate years at Virginia Tech, where she studied chemical engineering. As part of the Center for Enhancing Engineering Diversity Leadership Team, she organized a group of 15 students to plan extracurricular learning opportunities for engineering undergraduates. Her efforts increased retention rates among first-year women and minority students, laying the foundation for her lifelong dedication to creating equitable learning spaces.

Dr. Gillmore’s teaching philosophy is deeply influenced by her research experience at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. Her Ph.D. work focused on biodegradable plastic mulches, an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional agricultural plastics. Using advanced methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, she studied how these materials broke down into microplastics under different soil and climate conditions. Her findings revealed critical gaps between lab-tested biodegradability and real-world performance, providing insights that could drive the development of more sustainable agricultural practices. The experience of conducting research to provide real-life solutions to agricultural producers in Tennessee informed her approach to teaching.

“I wanted my students to experience the entire engineering design process and gain the confidence to learn from failures and dead ends,” she said. “The engineers of tomorrow must understand how their work shapes the social systems in which we all live and work.”

At APS, she is eager to contribute to the department’s mission of aligning research and teaching with observable challenges. Starting in January, she will teach the courses Introduction to Engineering and Introduction to Design in Making, equipping students with both technical knowledge and interpersonal skills.

“APS’s approach resonates with me,” she said. “It’s about aligning research and teaching with real-world needs and giving students the tools to make a tangible impact—to serve their communities and better the world.”

December 28, 2024