Inver Hills and Minnesota State Outstanding Educator 2024–2025: Lisa Tracy

Biology instructor exemplifies consistently superior commitment to student learning

Lisa Tracy, 43, has been recognized as the Inver Hills Community College and Minnesota State Outstanding Educator for 2024–2025. Lisa is faculty in the college’s Biology department. She started teaching at Inver Hills in August 2013.

“It is truly an honor to be selected as an Inver Hills Outstanding Educator, but the recognition should really go to the brilliant colleagues that have served as mentors and collaborators through the years,” Lisa said.

Lisa Tracy
Lisa Tracy

Lisa has more than 15 years of experience teaching biology in the Minnesota State system. Before arriving at Inver Hills, she taught biology courses at North Hennepin Community College, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Normandale Community College. She started teaching college-level biology at Argosy University in Eagan, Minnesota.

Lisa holds a Master of Science (M.S.) in Zoology/Animal Biology from the University of Otago in Dunedin New Zealand. Her thesis work focused on the conservation genetics of an endangered bird species. She earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Biology from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

At Inver Hills, Lisa has served as the coordinator for the Inver Hills Annual Research Conference, a two-day event that draws more than 800 participants, highlighting the scholarly work of our students. Lisa has been involved in undergraduate research that includes amphibian pathogen studies. This work was honored as the winner of the National Science Foundations’ Community College Innovation Challenge, which took her and a group of students to Washington, D.C., to present on Capitol Hill.

Lisa has also developed collaborative research studies with the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, the Minnesota Zoo, and Three Rivers Park District. Her most recent focus has been designing culturally responsive interactive and hands-on online lab curriculum.

When asked what she loves most about teaching at Inver Hills, Lisa said: “I chose to pursue this career because I enjoy the opportunity to help students achieve their goals. I feel honored to be in a position to help students with tools for success, and I enjoy working with a diverse student body at Inver Hills. We represent and celebrate a variety of cultures and life experiences. I find my work most rewarding when students make great gains in their outlook and motivation and are on their way to achieving their goals.”

Teaching Philosophy: Lisa Tracy

“Teaching courses in the biological sciences at the college level allows me to engage students and inspire a deeper curiosity about life. Beyond ensuring that students learn important fundamental concepts of each course, as an educator I strive to fulfill several other objectives:

  • Cultivate commitment to improving our community through meaningful service-learning opportunities
  • Encourage lifelong learning through active learning techniques
  • Foster critical thinking and promote engagement in the process of science through novel undergraduate research

“I hope this approach helps develop considerate, creative, and capable contributors to society.”

Board of Trustees Awards for Excellence¹

The Board of Trustees Awards for Excellence are conferred annually to college and university teaching faculty and university service faculty to acknowledge and provide system-wide recognition for consistently superior commitment to student learning and to encourage the ongoing pursuit of excellence.

This recognition is the result of the dedicated work of faculty, students, campus and systemwide award committees. Each year, campus committees review nominations and select faculty names to forward to presidents, who in turn designate teaching faculty as Outstanding Educators, and university administrative service faculty as Outstanding Service Faculty. Presidents then forward these names to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs and to system-level award committees for review.

Out of that pool of outstanding educators, the Board will identify two (2) college teaching faculty and one (1) university teaching faculty to be named as Educators of the Year. In addition, the Board will name one (1) university administrative service faculty as the Service Faculty of the Year.

At an awards luncheon on April 16, 2025, the Board will honor all Outstanding Educators and Educators of the Year from our colleges and universities, all Outstanding Service Faculty and a Service Faculty of the Year.

Living in New Zealand and Alaska

Lisa in New Zealand
Lisa in New Zealand
Before she began her teaching career, Lisa lived and worked in New Zealand and Alaska, managing avian conservation genetics and animal behavior research projects and working in aquatic field biology.

New Zealand

My five years in New Zealand began with an undergraduate study abroad opportunity, but I returned to work in wildlife conservation and eventually did my graduate work there. My first job there was as a research assistant on an island off the coast of an island off the coast of an island.

I chased birds furiously through the supplejack vine and tree fern forests with the research objective to find every nest on the island as part of a 12-generation pedigree study. I had penguins living under my hut, was chased by a sea lion, and watched a beached elephant seal molting out my tent window for two weeks.

My daughter was born there, and I was allowed to take the infant along with on my field work. So, she was dropped by helicopter with me in the remote wilderness, learned to walk in the New Zealand rainforest, and I’m proud to say her first word was ‘bird.’

Eventually, my employer sponsored my permanent residency application, so I could still go back to live and work anytime. It’s a beautiful place to live, but I enjoy Minnesota, where I am close to family.

My favorite part about living in Dunedin, New Zealand was that within a three-hour drive in nearly any direction, I could be in the wilderness. So, with friends, we would leave town at 5pm on a Friday and be at the summit of a mountain by the light of the full moon by 1am. Glaciers border rainforests border mountains border the sea. Endless adventures are possible.

New Zealand gallery

Alaska

My first job out of college was with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve. I worked six months collecting fish and invertebrate samples for stable isotope analysis to tease apart the influence of marine-derived (salmon) nutrients on inland ecosystems, as well as studying the intertidal zone of Kachemak Bay.

I returned ten years later with my family to spend a summer volunteering with the same group. We lived on a school bus that summer, learned to fish for salmon and halibut, paddled around icebergs in glacier lakes, and watched a mother and baby moose pair play with our soccer ball.

Alaska gallery

More about Lisa…

Lisa grew up in the Minneapolis are, but has lived in New Zealand, Alaska, and Grand Marais, Minnesota. She graduated from Armstrong High School, Class of 2000.

Lisa is married to Drew Heinonen, the maker of stringed instruments, or luthier, at T. Heinonen Guitars. Lisa and Drew have three children, one girl and two boys. Their daughter, Naomi, is a homeschooled senior in high school and has taken many classes at Inver Hills. Their sons, Anders and Sylvan, are 8 years old and 6 years old.

“We all love music, campfires, gardening, chasing our chickens, and sleeping out in snow forts together,” Lisa said.

Lisa’s favorite hobby recently is as a stilt-walker, performing in parades and large-scale puppetry performances. She also loves ice skating on wild ice in the Boundary Waters, cross-country skiing, and paddling on long canoe trips with her family.

Lisa life and family gallery

Lisa Inver Hills gallery


Lisa Tracy Q & A

Lisa Tracy
Lisa Tracy
What motivated you to choose biology as your career focus?

I’ve been fascinated with biology since I learned about phospholipids in high school. They are molecules that, simply due to their chemical makeup of a water-loving and water-fearing portion, will spontaneously form into a cell membrane when dropped in water…creating LIFE! My daughter and I dressed up as phospholipids on stilts for Halloween!

What do you like best about the field of biology?

The intricate world of the living belongs to us all. Biology, the study of life, feeds curiosity about the inner workings of our own astonishingly complex bodies, but also all the way down to the unfathomable realm of the microscopic and all the way up the global scales of climate, disease, and economics.

Three words that describe you as a college educator:
CREATIVE. DYNAMIC. INNOVATIVE.

What advice would you give future college students thinking about pursuing careers in biology?

There are so many areas of biology to choose from. Many students are familiar with careers like nursing because they have met nurses, but there is so much more! There are researchers designing vaccines, discovering the way our brains work, and even genetically engineering bacteria to solve climate challenges!

What is the best compliment you have ever received?

A colleague that I greatly respect said that he respected me most for my “finishiative.” That was a term coined by Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and means that I don’t just have initiative to start new things, but all the will to carry them out.

What in the world makes you the most proud?

While it may be odd to submit someone else’s writing, I am proud of my role in this case. As both a college biology educator AND a homeschool parent, I know I have done my job! In a college application, when asked what her favorite subject is, my daughter replied:

“I love biology. I’m happiest when I’m dressed up as a phospholipid molecule on stilts for Halloween; or laying on the ground, pondering a mushroom; or snorkeling with bioluminescent dinoflagellates; or considering the ecosystem of my skin; or watching a woodpecker stick out its tongue; or trying to understand how my dog drinks water; or studying carbon sinks; or reconstructing the skeleton of a drowned mouse; or talking to experts about the applications of termite stomach-enzymes in sustainable biofuel engineering; or building a stick-and-ball model of amoxycillin while sick with strep; or researching shrew taxonomy because I saw one in my house; or pulling the tendons in a severed deer leg to make its hoof move; or studying how bio-molecules can be used to technologically remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; or—I’m sorry, I was supposed to answer the question.”

Carl Sagan once said, “We are a way for the universe to know itself.” This idea—extending self-exploration beyond the self—is why I find biology so gratifying.

I plan to center a climate solutions career around this passion, soaking up all the happy knowledge I can and applying it to the challenges I find most pressing.

What person has influenced your life the most and why?

I love my parents. They have supported me through everything. My mom is generous, intentional, and deeply caring. My dad is joyful, creative, and optimistic. He is always learning new things, every decade taking on something new, be it authoring a book, picking up rock-climbing, or learning the viola.

Lisa Tracy 10 Answers

Lisa Tracy

  1. Favorite sport or physical activity: Cross-country skiing
  2. tree frog; link to Visit Costa RicaPlace you would most like to visit: Costa Rica
  3. Most exciting thing you’ve ever done: Visited an unmapped region of New Zealand’s Fiordland, arriving by packraft and abseil
  4. Best book or movie you’ve read or seen lately: I’ve been enjoying Kristin Hannah’s historical fiction works, but my all-time favorite is Barskins by Annie Proulx; I hear it has been turned into a TV series, but I love the novel as is
  5. Time period you would explore if you could time travel: The future!
  6. Your national bird if you were your own country: Cedar waxwing
  7. Dream occupation: I’m in it! I might modify it slightly to include more field courses, more international travel with students, and the ability to live and work in the wilderness
  8. cedar waxwing; link to Cedar Waxwing eBird websitePerson you would most like to meet: My great-great-great grandmother
  9. Skill you would most like to learn and master: Blacksmithing
  10. Most important issue or problem facing humankind: Climate crisis
Learn more about Biology at Inver Hills by contacting:

Admissions Team
admissions@inverhills.edu
651-450-3902
866-576-0689
College Center

Want to connect with an advisor? Check out our virtual drop-in hours or email admissions@inverhills.edu to request a campus-based or phone appointment.
¹ SOURCE: ASA Newsletter: Board of Trustees Awards for Excellence

More about Biology at Inver Hills…

female biologist working in lab; link to Biology web page

Biology is the natural science of life and living organisms. The field is immensely diverse with numerous branches from paleontology, the study of prehistoric life, to biochemistry, the study of life at the chemical level, to astrobiology, the study of life beyond Earth.

Why Study Biology at Inver Hills?

Acquire a profound understanding of the natural world.
Studying biology teaches you how to relate to the nearly 9 million other lifeforms that share the Earth with human beings. You’ll develop a strong awareness of diverse ecosystems and how they interconnect and adapt to a changing climate.

Key into your individual biology in the context of human civilization.
Biology gives you insights into your own health and wellness while showing where you fit in the grand scheme of living things. You’ll discover how to make more informed decisions about your diet, habits, and healthcare. You’ll also better comprehend biological issues in society and nature such as genetically modified organism (GMOs), vaccines and antibiotics, invasive species, bioscience ethics, and more.

Fight to preserve our one and only planet.
As a biology student, you’ll have opportunities to examine leading-edge, eco-conservation efforts. You will get a handle on the most pressing environmental issues and learn how to combat exploitation linked to corporate farming, mining, energy production and consumption, deforestation, desertification, and more. Species extinction, ozone depletion, and extreme weather are just a few ecological problems that need your attention.

Explore a cornucopia of career options.
Most biologists pursue careers in seven main areas: forensic biology, microbiology, marine biology, wildlife biology, ecology, biological engineering, and biostatistics. Within those areas are myriad specialty occupations. Here are just a few: agronomist, biochemist, environmental analyst, fisheries scientist, forestry technician, genetics technician, plant pathologist, secondary school science teacher, zoologist, and the list goes on.

Transferable skills are the name of the game.
Biology majors need a really big toolbox for the skill set they’ll assemble during their biological studies. Included in that set are investigative, analytical, research, and communication skills obtained from identifying problems, cataloging information, designing experiments, conducting studies, reasoning logically, making data projections, writing research proposals, composing reports, and so much more.

Work in the wildest places.
Biological scientists working in the branches of botany, ecology, entomology, ornithology, and zoology frequently conduct fields studies in exotic locations, ranging from Arctic iceshelfs to temperate rainforests to coastal deserts to alpine belts to flooded savannas to oceanic midnight zones. If you like doing important, adventurous work while living in primitive conditions, biology could be your calling.

Discover solutions to the greatest challenges of your generation.
When you major in biology with the goal to earn an advanced degree, you will encounter opportunities to participate in world-class scientific research. Unanswered questions linked to biology are focused on biodiversity, the origins of life, brain mapping, virus evolution, sustainable agriculture, synthetic life, fatal diseases, DNA sequencing, and more.
Stamp your passport to the scientific universe of biology.

Biology Career Paths

female biologist in the field; link to Biology web page

Biology is the study of life

Careers in biology are almost as varied as life itself. The field has branches and subdisciplines as prominent as ornithology, the study of birds, or the more obscure myrmecology, the study of ants. As a biology major, you will develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills essential for rewarding careers in scientific research and healthcare.

Biology is defined as the study of life. Career options for biology majors are as almost as varied and amazing as life itself. Earning your associate degree in biology at Inver Hills open doors to innumerable occupations, from park ranger to forensic scientist to biology professor to genetic counselor to nurse practitioner to biomedical engineer to biochemist.


Biologists

male biologist in jungle; link to Biology web page

Research or study basic principles of plant and animal life, such as origin, relationship, development, anatomy, and functions.

Biologist is a Bright Outlook occupation and is expected to grow rapidly in the next several years.
Reported job titles
  • Aquatic Biologist
  • Aquatic Scientist
  • Biological Scientist
  • Biologist
  • Botanist
  • Horticulturist
  • Marine Biologist
  • Research Biologist
  • Research Scientist
  • Scientist

WAGES

male biology student peering into microscope; link to Biology web page

Minnesota (annual)

Workers on average earn $82,450
10 percent of workers earn $55,210 or less
10 percent of workers earn $127,230 or more

United States (annual)

Workers on average earn $91,10
10 percent of workers earn $52,230 or less
10 percent of workers earn $158,730 or more

2023 Wage Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Occupational Trends: Minnesota

Employment(2020): 380 employees employees
Projected employment (2030): 400 employees
Projected growth (2020–2030): 5%
Projected annual job openings (2020–2030): 40

Occupational Trends: United States

Employment (2023): 66,800 employees
Projected employment (2033): 70,600 employees
Projected growth (2023–2033): 6 percent: Faster than average
Projected annual job openings(2023–2033): 5,400

Visit O*NET OnLine for comprehensive information about the occupation: Biologists

SOURCE: O*NET OnLine: Biologists

Lisa Tracy

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