Rate My Professor Cheryl Heinz

Cheryl Heinz, Ph.D., is Department Chair and Associate Professor in Biological Sciences at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois, where she has served on the faculty since 2004. She earned her Ph.D. in Entomology from Cornell University in 2002 and her B.S. in Honors Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993. Between her doctoral studies and her position at Benedictine University, she held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona, from 2002 to 2004. In addition to her departmental leadership, Dr. Heinz directs the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence.

Dr. Heinz specializes in plant-insect interactions, behavioral and chemical ecology, particularly butterflies and other insects. Her research involves ecological fieldwork surveying and sampling local plants and butterflies; behavioral observations of host-plant choices by the black swallowtail butterfly; studies on the physiological ecology of native prairie plants; and preference and performance assays examining how plant nutrient status affects caterpillar and moth behaviors. She teaches courses including Ecology, Ecology Lab, Plant-Herbivore Interactions, Animal Behavior, Principles of Organismal Biology, and Insect Biology. Her contributions to pedagogy include conference presentations on topics such as "Mixing 'old tech' and 'new tech' to engage students" (2012), "iPads and ecology education" (2011), and "Students' Perceptions of Using Personal Response Systems ('Clickers') with Cases in Science" (2011). Dr. Heinz received the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence by Fulltime Faculty in 2012. Key publications comprise "Host plant odor extracts with strong effects on oviposition behavior in Papilio polyxenes" (2008), "Extreme weather change and the dynamics of oviposition behavior in the pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor" (2007), and "Effects of contact chemistry and host plant experience in the oviposition behaviour of the eastern black swallowtail butterfly" (2005). Her work has 158 citations on ResearchGate.