David Lutz (pronounced LOOTS), assistant professor in the School of Arts & Sciences, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Jack Jensen Award for Excellence in Teaching, the college’s highest teaching award. Lutz joined the Colby-Sawyer faculty in 2023 after six years as a research assistant professor at Dartmouth College. He holds a B.S. in biology from Wake Forest University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia. He teaches courses in environmental science, GIS and remote sensing and environmental chemistry.

In the classroom, Lutz infuses his teaching with enthusiasm and humor. He ties his instruction clearly to learning objectives, and he reminds himself that he, too, is a learner, open to being challenged by students. He works to know his students individually and approaches them with understanding, helping them to address both academic and non-academic barriers to their progress. At the same time, he maintains high expectations for students.

“Students will rise to the bars you give them,” he said. “If you never tell them how difficult something is, they will keep trying and learning; eventually, they will often succeed. If you set the bar too low, you will never see how high they can go.”

In keeping with college tradition, as the winner of the Jensen Award, Lutz will give the Commencement address at the ceremony on May 10.

Below is a lightly edited Q&A with Lutz about his teaching and other scholarly work.

Could you provide a brief summary of your teaching philosophy?

As I reflect upon my teaching philosophy, I realize that I mostly follow a few core ideas in all of the decisions I make when designing a course or teaching lectures and labs. All of these ideas are ones that, over the years, I have gathered from my own teachers, professors and colleagues who I felt were outstanding practitioners. Mostly, I always just think, “What was it about this course or lesson that made it work?” Here are the core tenets that I try to adhere to:

1. Be enthusiastic about the material. Students are much more receptive when you truly believe in the lessons and subject matter and think they are important. It is very difficult for people to dislike a speaker who is earnest.
2. Humor disarms. Students may have lots of preconceived notions about what they can or cannot understand or what they are good/not good at. If I use a bit of humor, that sometimes eliminates that tension and gives students a fresh perspective.
3. Set the bar very high. Students will rise to the bars that you give them. If you never tell them how difficult something is, they will keep trying and learning; eventually, they will often succeed. If you set the bar too low, you will never see how high they can go.
4. Know my students. If I do not know my students, I do not know what type of delivery they will accept. The better I know them, the better I can frame ideas in contexts and modalities that they will follow, which will allow them to learn more effectively.
5. Connect everything to the learning objectives. If I make sure all of my lessons and assessments are tied to learning objectives, I can eliminate bias in my evaluations. If I stray from my objectives, students may think I am subjectively grading them, which undermines a sense of trust in me and the education system in general.
6. Let go of my ego. A common self-defense mechanism for teachers is to be firm and punitive when challenged. I remind myself that I am learning too, and that sometimes I need to consider input from students about better ways to design a course or assignment.
7. Be understanding. When a student is not performing well, it is generally indicative of a broader issue. Very few people are actively malicious. Instead, if I listen to what is going on, I can find ways to help students address non-academic barriers to their progress. More often than not, this translates into improved performance in their coursework.

What are your proudest achievements at Colby-Sawyer?

Honestly, receiving the Jack Jensen Award feels like my most significant achievement here at Colby-Sawyer. I have been teaching for many years, always trying to improve my techniques and course design, and this award makes me feel as though that effort resulted in concrete improvements on how I teach and how the students subsequently learn. Knowing that I am in the company of extremely talented and highly trained teachers and still receiving this award amplifies its impact to me.

Aside from this award, my proudest achievements come in little moments inside and outside the classroom. Watching a student finally grasp a difficult concept reveals itself in how the student reacts, talks and behaves; if I am observant, I see these changes and can understand that they have truly learned something new. Two little moments that I remember in my first year here encapsulate these small victories that make me feel proud of what I have been able to do.

The first moment came when I was in the dining hall, eating with the environmental science majors. One student had been working on some chemistry problems and a group of other students and I were discussing them, but having quite a bit of fun making jokes and such. The one student stopped and said, “Wow, college can really be fun.” This came from a student who was not overly enthusiastic to study chemistry, but the comment revealed that while he was learning something challenging, he was enjoying the process, which is exactly what we set out to do here: build an interest and capacity in becoming a lifelong learner and thinker.

The second moment occurred when I was working with a group of junior environmental science students for their Capstone course. I had designed the semester to give them a crash course on statistical programming and experimental design, but this included introducing them very carefully to a programming language named R. R is not a very intuitive program, and it requires you to carefully write your code or it produces errors. Mastering it is an exercise in patience, diligence and practice. Around three-quarters of the way through the term, as students were working on their code, one of them said, “I really like R!” This indicated to me that not only had I made a challenging and difficult tool accessible to the students, but also that they felt comfortable sharing that they enjoyed the experience.

Outside the classroom, how do you connect with students?

There are really two main kinds of connections I have with my students. The first way is through research opportunities. I was previously a research professor, so working on research projects is something that I devote quite a bit of time to. I was exposed to research as an undergraduate student myself and enjoy helping aspiring students to get involved. I have taken students to conferences all over the United Sates, on collection trips in different environments, taught students to code and use new technologies and in general provided them with additional training to give them a leg up when they enter their professional career.

The second way is through sharing time on campus with the students. One of the key tenets of my teaching philosophy is to know my students. How can I get to know them if I do not spend time with them outside the classroom? At Colby-Sawyer, I have great opportunities to go have lunch with students or grab a quick coffee or play a quick game with them in the Ivey ENV lounge. If I have a student-athlete in an ENV class, I will try to make it to at least one home game in the term. I have an open-door policy for my office, and students come by quite often to ask questions, grab a piece of candy, pick up [my dog] Tugboat to take her for a walk, or get advice on classes or projects or internships. Doing this adds a sense of communal respect between the students and me, which impacts how they learn in the classroom.

What is your current involvement with faculty committees, boards, etc.? Any professional organizations outside of Colby-Sawyer?

I have begun to serve on a number of committees at Colby-Sawyer. I am a member of the Academic Policies Committee, which votes on changes to courses, curricula, programs and other college policies. I am also serving on the Liberal Education Program Review Steering Committee; we are tasked with assessing the performance of the college’s liberal education program, including the core courses that all students must complete. This steering committee has an important job in thinking through potential changes that can align the program with modern competencies that we think our students should have. Lastly, I serve on the IT Advisory Committee, which is trying to update and keep track of how technologies are utilized in our classrooms.

Most of my involvement outside of the classroom comes in the form of fostering research opportunities for students. I am the college’s Goldwater representative, who recommends students for the prestigious Goldwater Fellowship. In the past few months, I have taken on the role of representing Colby-Sawyer in a statewide National Science Foundation program, EPSCoR, which helps facilitate student and faculty opportunities for sponsored research work. The project will help Colby-Sawyer connect with researchers at other undergraduate institutions around New Hampshire and develop our statewide capacity. Outside of New Hampshire, I have been proud to serve on a number of review panels for NASA to evaluate proposals submitted by scientists around the country for research funding. These include the Terrestrial Ecology program, the Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry program, the Land Cover Land Use Change program, the Interdisciplinary Science program, and the Commercial SmallSat data analysis program.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I am thrilled and honored to be nominated for this award. While I am the recipient, I think of myself as merely a vessel formed by the hard work, dedication, collegiality and guidance of many of my former teachers and students and my colleagues here at Colby-Sawyer. I thank these countless individuals for having a positive impact on my life. I also want to thank my family, friends and, specifically, my wife, Kate, and pets, Waffle, Tugboat, Queso and Hydrox.