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A Note on Service
A Note on Service
Service comprises 20% of my appointment and it is an opportunity to advocate for change. As Director, Undergraduate Programs, my contribution is 45%. I have sought committees that focus on undergraduate curriculum, teaching experience, event organization, and developing policy for teaching (e.g., teaching equity committee). In addition to being a Tenure Promotion Committee member, I have also worked with the committee in an advisory role to consider how we assess teaching.
As I move forward in my career, I plan to become more involved in university-level opportunities to promote teaching and learning and work towards better teaching assessment frameworks for our Faculty.
University Senate Committees
University Senate Committees
Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (SCUS), member
Terms: 2019 - 2021, 2022 – Current
Senate Committee for University Teaching and Learning (SCUTL), member
Term: Fall 2012 to Spring 2015
University Committees
University Committees
University Committee for the Excellence in Teaching Awards, reviewer
Term: Fall 2018 – Summer 2019
SFU Teaching and Learning Symposium Planning Committee, member
- Drafted report from world café event on teaching equity for submission to SFUFA & SCUTL (2013)
Terms: Fall 2012 to Spring 2013, Fall 2013 to Spring 2014, Fall 2015 to Spring 2016
TCES Working Group, member
- Procured software package for new university wide student evaluation system
Term: Summer 2014
University Animal Care Committee (UACC), FHS representative Term: Fall 2010 to Fall 2012
FHS Standing Committees
FHS Standing Committees
Undergraduate Studies Committee, Chair
Terms: 2019 – 2021, 2022 – 2025
Education Programs Committee, Member
Terms: 2019 – 2021, 2022 – 2025
Faculty Executive Council, Member
Terms: 2019 – 2021, 2022 – 2025
Tenure Promotion Committee, alternate Term: 2019 to 2020
Tenure Promotion Committee, member Term: 2018 to 2019
Teaching Assessment Review Committee
Term: Spring 2017
FHS Undergraduate Studies Committee, member
Term: Fall 2012 to 2018
Ad Hoc Committees and Working Groups
Ad Hoc Committees and Working Groups
Continuing Lecturer Search Committee, Chair
Term: Summer & Fall 2024
BA Curriculum working group, member
Term: 2022 - current
BSc Life Sciences Curriculum working group, member, discussion lead
Term: Fall 2020 – current
BSc PH&D Curriculum working group, member Term: 2019 – 2020
Teaching Team Subcomittee, member
Term: 2019 – 2020
Hiring Committee for Professor of Professional Practice
Term: Fall 2017
FHS working group on Student Evaluation of Teaching Course questions.
FHS Writing Skills Working Group (WSWG)
Term: Fall 2013 to Spring 2015
FHS Teaching Equity Committee
Drafted policy for equitable distribution of course assignments - approved by Faculty Council.
Term: Spring 2013 to Spring 2015
FHS Lab Sciences Working Group
Term: 2010 - current
Immunology Program Working Group
Term: Spring 2014
Interfaculty course development for a General Biology course
Term: Fall 2010 to Spring 2012
Other Scholarly Activities
Other Scholarly Activities
Awards and Admissions
Awards and Admissions
Major Entrance Scholarships, adjudicator
Spring 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024
FHS Dean’s Entrance Scholarship, adjudicator
Spring 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
FHS MPH admissions, reviewer
Spring 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Ph.D. (SARS) Admissions Committee (1 application), reviewer
Spring 2011
M.Sc. Admissions Committee (5 applications), reviewer Fall 2010
Peer Review
Peer Review
Course Source case study, 2021
NCCSTS – case study, 2018
Journal of Immunology Research, 2015
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2011
Student Supervision
Student Supervision
Supervision of Directed Studies - One student scheduled Spring 2025
Supervision of Honours – One student 2023
Supervision of master’s in public health students – Seven students 2014 – 2020
External Examiner for master’s Thesis – One student 2012
Examiner for Honours degree research project – Three students 2012- 2014
Chair for Capstone Defenses, MPH Program – Four students 2010
Invited Talks
Invited Talks
Panelist. Teaching Faculty in Administrative Roles – SFU Teaching Matters Seminar Series. March 2024
Panelist. Biennial Review for Teaching Faculty – SFU Teaching Matters Seminar Series. November 2022
Panelist. What is the Scholarship of Teaching? – SFU Teaching Matters Seminar Series. November 2022
van Houten NE, Heller L, Lechner M. Decolonizing the Scientific Method in Human Biology. SFU Teaching Matters Seminar Series. March 2022
van Houten NE, Tairyan K, Ardiles P and Lechner M. FHS Health Sciences and Public Health Education Challenge Area - Action Plan and Work in Progress (Research-in-Progress Talk), FHS, SFU. October 2019
van Houten NE. Development of an Evidence-based Reading Approach for Primary Scientific Literature and Impact on Student Learning. May 28, 2019. Hosted by: Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (CWSEI) at the University of British Columbia
van Houten NE. Investigating challenges faced by undergraduate students when reading primary scientific literature and identifying instructional approaches to enhance their reading. Institute for Science Education and Communication, University of Groningen, Netherlands. June 2018
Hepburn, K., Leaman, E., Ogolo, G., Tamunoibim, S. and van Houten, N. (2018, July). Comparison of student primary literature reading approaches to a deep and surface learning model. Presentation at the 12th Conference of European Researchers in Didactics of Biology (ERIDOB), July 2-6, 2018, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
van Houten NE, Yasutomi, Y., and Niikura, M. Investigating virus-based carriers for antibody-targeting and mucosal vaccines. At The Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, BC. October 2009
van Houten NE, Yasutomi, Y., and Niikura, M. Investigating virus-based carriers for antibody-targeting and mucosal vaccines. At the Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver , BC. October 2009
Public Science Education and Guest Lectures
Public Science Education and Guest Lectures
Needle in a Haystack: Molecular Luck and the Discovery of Hepatitis C Virus 2021 SFU Nobel Prize Lecture Series
Two guest appearances on Viral Transmissions Podcast - 2020
Test tubes to Teaching: How Anti-vaxxers and a global financial crisis shaped my career. Café Scientifique, July 1 2018. Yagger’s Downtown
Two television appearances on Upfront with Sonia Sunger regarding mandatory vaccination April and February 2015
Guest Instructor – HSCI 471 – Virology Laboratory, SFU Burnaby,Spring 2015
Guest lecturer, Vaccines: background, history, how they work, why they work, and also why they do not work or are viable for relatively short periods for BISC 318 - Parasitology SFU, Burnaby March 2013, 2014, 2015
Guest lecturer, End Game Strategies for Polio Eradication for Political Science 364(A) - International Organizations, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC. July 2014
Guest Speaker, Dr. Vaccine or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Needle. FHS Health Ethics Club - SFU Burnaby, March 2014
Panelist for Cafe Scientifique, The Science Behind Vaccinations, CBC studio, Vancouver BC. March 2013
Guest speaker, Reverse Engineering Vaccines for a Modern Plague at Vancouver Skepticamp 2012 University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC. Nov. 2012
Planning Consultant and Invited Speaker for Lecture Series on Vaccine Safety. Green College, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC Fall 2011 to Summer 2012
SFU Nobel Prize Lecture Series
SFU Nobel Prize Lecture Series
I gave a publicly televised talk on the discovery of Hepatitis C virus. I called it Needle in a Haystack: Molecular Luck and the Discovery of Hepatitis C Virus.
My talk starts at 55:30.
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