The winner with the other nominees and the jury. Photo Luuk Zegers The Teacher of the Year (TOTY) award was presented to Ignas Heitkönig on Tuesday, 20 June. Students of the jury call him ‘creative’ and ‘authentic’, and say he strives to make abstract ideas understandable. His love for nature and his efforts in favour of biodiversity and nature-inclusiveness were also cited.
There were five remaining candidates for the award. In addition to the Teacher of the Year Award, the four Excellent Education Prizes were also presented in Impulse.
Heitkönig discovered his love for teaching during his PhD research in South Africa. After obtaining his PhD, he taught several courses at Venda University. In Wageningen, Heitkönig currently teaches several courses, including Ecological Methods, Animal Ecology and Wild Perspectives. He is also active outside of his teaching, says the jury. In 2016 he helped found the Future for Nature Academy, which aims to encourage students to become involved in nature and biodiversity; he is involved in the Wageningen Biodiversity Initiative and is committed to reducing the number of parking spots on the campus.
Dancing
The jury praises Heitkönig’s creative teaching methods, which he deploys to help students understand abstract concepts. He has his students dance to explain multivariable methods. ‘His methods focus on students, thus encouraging students to take a leadership role’, says the jury. ‘Ignas has a contagious passion for science and teaching, but the most important aspect in his teaching is his love for nature.’
The first words of the new Teacher of the Year were spoken on behalf of all five nominees, to emphasize that teaching is a collective effort. ‘We think that winning any teaching prize, let alone the teacher of the year prize, can only be done if you have the full support of everybody in this university.’ The audience was then invited to think of ‘all others who deserve at least part of this prize’, from teaching assistants to technicians and from the people behind the buildings’ receptions to the librarians and many others (click on photo above).
Scientist for Future
After some words by the jury, Heitkönig spoke again. ‘Wild mammals barely constitute 3 per cent of all mammals on the planet, while 97 per cent is composed of livestock, humans and our pets. We developed the Future for Nature Academy to engage young students in conservation science and conservation in general. We helped kick start Scientists4Future. What I would like to do now is to nominate the Future for Nature Academy as the recipient of this award, and to donate the funds that come with it to the Wageningen branch of Scientists4Future for further developing our aims on campus and beyond.’
