Dr. Frank Forcino
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resources
Director, Science Education Program
Assistant Professor, Geology
Phone: 828-227-2888
Email: flforcino@wcu.edu
Office Address: 335 Stillwell Bldg.
Areas of Interest: I conduct examinations intro marine invertebrate paleoecology, specifically community dynamics and predation traces. In addition, I am interested in gathering data on the best practices for science education and communication, specifically dealing with evolution and geologic time. I am always recruiting undergraduate students to help out with these research projects or to develop their own project with similar goals.
Courses Taught:
Geol 140: Investigations of Environmental Geology
Geol 155: Historical Geology
Geol 422: Sedimentation and Stratigraphy
Geol 494: Paleoecology
Education:
*Ph.D. University of Alberta
*M.S. San Diego State University
*B.S.Ed. West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Recent Publications (*student author):
Recent Selected Publications (* = undergraduate student author):
Salter, R.L., Forcino, F.L., and Momsen, J.L (in review) Assessing evolution understanding at different education levels using the ORI. Journal of Geoscience Education.
Forcino, F.L. and Salter, R.L. (2017) Are Open Ended Questions Worth the Extra Time? A Comparison of Open Ended, Multiple Choice, and Likert Scale Items for Assessing the General Public’s Understanding of Evolution:Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs.
*Howard, R., Forcino, F.L. and Stafford, E.S.(2017) Predation repair frequency in brachiopods of the Ordovician Corryville Member, Grant Lake Formation, Kentucky: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs.
*Hurding-Jones, H., Forcino, F.L. and Stafford, E.S.(2017) Does spatial heterogeneity affect predation within the Pinecrest Beds, Tamiami Formation, Florida?: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs.
*Pedigo, R., *Hurding-Jones, H., Stafford, E.S. and Forcino, F.L. (2017) Variations of community dynamics between size categories in the Tamiami Formation, Florida: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs.
Stafford, E.S., *Montoya, L.M., and Forcino, F.L. (2017) Comparisons of community and predation between large and small gastropods in the Miocene St. Mary’s Formation, Maryland: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs.
Forcino, F.L. (2016) Why don’t we teach evolution in geology class?: Comparing the evolution understanding of biology majors to geology majors and the general public:Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs: v. 48.
Forcino, F.L., Leighton, L.R., Twerdy, P., and Cahill, J.F. (2015) Reexamining sample size requirements for multivariate, abundance-based community research: when resources are limited, the research does not have to be. PLOS ONE, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0128379.
Forcino, F.L., Ritterbush, K. and Stafford, E.S. (2015) Evaluating the effectiveness of the Mantel test and Procrustes Randomization test for exploratory ecological similarity among paleocommunities. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 426:199-208.
Mead, L.S., Clarke, J.B. Forcino, F.L., and Graves Jr., J.L. (2015) Factors influencing minority student decisions to consider a career in evolutionary biology. Evolution: Education and Outreach 8:6, DOI 10.1186/s12052-015-0034-7.
Forcino, F.L. (2013) The importance of a laboratory section on student learning outcomes in a university introductory earth science course. Journal of Geoscience Education 61:213-221.