September 15, 2025

Meet the Fall 2025 Educational Development Fellows

This semester’s cohort of graduate fellows in educational development will co-facilitate our popular GSPD learning communities:

This interdisciplinary team will spend the fall semester working closely with CTL mentors to develop their skills as resources in teaching practices for graduate students and postdocs.

Nicole A. Strombom

Nicole A. Strombom, JD, MPH, CPH (She/Her) is a 6th year Public Health Sciences PhD student. She is a returning CTL Fellow and excited to collaborate on 2025-2026 IGNITE! With Nicole’s anticipated graduation in December, this semester will be one of transition. She will help train new team of leaders for IGNITE and will wrap-up some Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research this fall. She is excited to grow her active learning teaching knowledge this fall and collaborate with the new cohort of CTL Fellows.

Sarah Swiston

Sarah Swiston is a 6th-year Ph.D. candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program in the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences. Their research focuses on mathematical models for inferring how species have evolved over time and moved through space, primarily using lizards as focal organisms. In their free time, Sarah plays the cello in the Saint Charles County Symphony, and loves tabletop roleplaying games.

To complement their research, Sarah designed and implemented a SoTL project about assessing the effectiveness of computational workshops for other researchers. They have been engaged with the CTL since starting at WashU in 2020, completing the Professional Development in Teaching program and participating in both the EPIC and IGNITE learning communities. As a CTL fellow they are excited to help facilitate these valuable programs for other graduate students.

Nico Herzberg

Nico Herzberg (he/him/his) is a fifth year PhD student in the Germanic Languages and Literatures Program at WashU. In his research, he investigates how Latin American spaces have been represented in German literature of the late 19^thand early 20^th centuries.

As a language instructor, Nico is particularly interested in the way listening comprehension is taught in the classroom. Attending the CTL’s SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) seminar in the spring of 2024 helped Nico develop a research plan for a study about listening comprehension at the beginner level of German, which he put into practice the following semester. He hopes to present and publish the results. He is currently in the process of completing the CTL’s Professional Development in Teaching program. As a fellow, Nico is thrilled to be able to contribute to the CTL’s mission of supporting the teaching community at WashU.

Nikita Gupta

Nikita Gupta (she/her) is a 4th-year PhD student in the Department of Genetics at the WashU School of Medicine. Her research focuses on uncovering how non-coding DNA contributes to gene regulation in normal development and disease. Outside of the lab, she enjoys singing, playing the piano and ukulele, and exploring the vibrant performing arts scene in St. Louis.

Nikita has been involved with CTL workshops and programming since 2022, an experience that deepened her appreciation for the power of teaching communities. She is passionate about fostering inclusive classrooms that preserve curiosity and the joy of learning in higher education. Nikita believes that building supportive teaching communities not only strengthens educators but also enriches learning itself, creating space for diverse voices, new perspectives, and innovative ways of thinking. As a Fellow, she is excited to contribute to CTL’s efforts to cultivate these communities and to advance evidence-based, inclusive educational practices.

Back to News

Meet the Fall 2025 Educational Development Fellows

Applications open for CTL Educational Development Grad Fellows

Funding Available to Attend Teaching Professor Conference

A Day of Teaching, Learning, and Connection at iTeach 2026

What’s it like to be an Educational Development Fellow?

Teaching with AI: What do grad students and postdocs need to know?

Call for Proposals iTeach 2026

Jumpstart the Fall 2025 semester with the CTL

Teaching the Teachers: Investigating the Impact of a Phylogenetic Biogeography Workshop Through SoTL

Enhancing Neuroscience Education: Using AI-Generated Quizzes to Support Student Learning