Amber Anderson, assistant teaching professor in agronomy, is the recipient of the 2022 Excellence in Teaching by Term Faculty Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. She teaches a variety of courses in a variety of formats, including traditional on-campus, exclusively online and off-campus immersion in both domestic and international settings. Her success is independent of the course, style of teaching required, subject matter and demographics. Anderson has been innovative in her technological approach to teaching as well, developing a virtual soil judging process that not only met the needs of Iowa State during COVID-19, but will be widely emulated to improve in-person and online teaching.
A noteworthy effect of Anderson’s approach to teaching is students from marginalized populations are empowered to succeed. She holds students to high standards, but commonly works with students experiencing hardships. This makes teaching more challenging, but she is unwavering in her commitment to this ideal. A colleague states, “These students face a number of challenges in their pursuit of a college education, but they find support in Anderson’s classes.”