Dr. David Pfahler -Bridging Chemistry and the Outdoors

David Pfahler- Faculty Spotlight

About Prof. Pfahler

David Pfahler is an associate professor of chemistry at Santa Fe College. He teaches chemistry and environmental science courses and has a varied background in research and engineering from his time in the Air Force Research laboratory. David is passionate about helping students understand how the science they are learning in class is used to solve problems in the real world. To this end, he has developed course projects that take his students out of the classroom to experience the application of science in a real-world setting.

The North Woods is one of our campus resources that Dr. Pfahler is working to develop as a member of the sustainability committee. The North Woods is a 10-acre plot of land just north of the library. It has been in use for over 20 years as a teaching laboratory for biology and environmental sciences but has had very little educational infrastructure. The sustainability committee has been instrumental in adding picnic table seating for classes, educational kiosks, and a bat house The site has a rich collection of interesting features, including several sinkholes and ephemeral ponds, and two retention ponds that hold water year-round. There are several ecosystems represented, including abandoned pasture, mesic hardwood, and successional upland pine habitats that can be viewed from the internal trail system.

To make resources like this available to other professors, educational kiosks have been added to explain various aspects of the ecology, hydrology, and biology of the site. Several posters have been developed and are in place, and more are in progress. Please reach out if there is something that you would like to see added to help you use the space for your classes. Several project resources that use this space are included below.