Professor Sasha Turchyn has been awarded the prestigious Pilkington Prize in recognition of her teaching excellence.
Professor Sasha Turchyn is a lecturer in biogeochemistry and Director of Studies in Earth Sciences at Trinity Hall.
The award acknowledged Sasha’s dedication to students, running fieldtrips and her work to introduce a new Part IB course (Quantitative Environmental Sciences, or QES) to the Natural Sciences curriculum.
Turchyn said: “Being part of the team that created Quantitative Environmental Sciences (QES) has been one of the most rewarding things I have done in my career, and has allowed me to really feel that we are teaching the next generation the key skills to understand the environmental and climate-related problems that they will deal with in their lives.”
The citation also read: “Professor Sasha Turchyn is a world-leading educator. She has been a pivotal contributor to the Earth Sciences teaching programme since she began in 2009. She has led courses across all 4 year groups and contributed to nearly all field courses that are taught.”
Commenting on her work to introduce the new Part IB course the citation added: “Students and staff alike are raving about the course, which is a real measure of Sasha’s talents and merit.”
The Pilkington Prize was set up in 1994 by Sir Alastair Pilkington, who believed that the quality of teaching was crucial to the University’s success. The prizes are awarded to individuals who make a substantial contribution to the teaching programme of a Department, Faculty or the University as a whole. Nominations are made by each of the six Schools.
Sasha is among 12 winners of the prize this year, which is annually awarded by the University of Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Adapted from an original news story by Trinity Hall.