Dr. Andrew Mercer is a meteorologist and climatologist at Mississippi State University, home to one in three of today's on-air broadcast meteorologists. As Graduate Coordinator for the Department of Geosciences and meteorology team lead, his research applies machine learning and AI to large scale atmospheric problems, from severe weather forecasting to hurricane prediction.

In this conversation with host Dr. Shannon Harmon, Andrew reflects on what it means to teach in a nationally recognized program built around both the science and the communication of weather. He shares how MSU prepares students for careers across the country, how uncertainty is woven into meteorology as a discipline, and how he is thinking about the role AI might play in the future of the field and the classroom.

For faculty wondering how to approach AI in their own classrooms, Andrew's advice is simple: treat it as a tool, meet your students where they are, and keep the focus on critical thinking.

Dr. Neil Deochand is completing his first year as an assistant professor at Mississippi State University. He came with a doctorate in behavior analysis, years of online teaching experience, and a lot of ideas about how people learn. This year, he has been putting all of it into practice at Mississippi State.

In this conversation with host Dr. Shannon Harmon, Neil reflects on what it looks like to experiment with your teaching while navigating the realities of a first year at a new institution. He shares how he brings the experimental mindset of a researcher into the classroom, what hands-on learning looks like in a behavior analysis course, and what he has learned about his students and himself along the way.

The willingness to experiment, reflect, and adjust turns out to be not just good science. It's good teaching.

Dr. Greg Francom came to teaching through four degrees, four universities, a lifelong faith community, and a conviction that media and technology are most valuable when they help people learn. Today, as a Clinical Professor in the Department of Technology, Leadership, and Design at Mississippi State University, he is the author of the first ever multi-platform interactive textbook for educational technology.

In this conversation with host Dr. Shannon Harmon, Greg reflects on project-based teaching and what it looks like to keep innovating with technology in the middle of a long career. He shares how project-based learning creates space for students to personalize their own learning, what a mid-career light bulb moment taught him about his relationship with students, and why changing one thing at a time might be the most sustainable innovation strategy there is.

If you are somewhere in the middle of your teaching career and wondering how to keep growing, this conversation is for you.