Parrish Waters

Associate Professor University of Mary Washington

  • Fredericksburg VA

Dr. Parrish Waters’ areas of expertise include neuroscience, physiology, hormone axis function, stress physiology and sensory perception.

Contact

University of Mary Washington

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Media

Social

Biography

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Parrish Waters’ major area of expertise is neuroscience, but his interests in physiology are broad, and include hormone axis function, stress physiology and sensory perception. His post-doctoral training includes a Fellowship with the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence in Berlin, Germany. Before that, he held a research mentoring fellowship at the College of Charleston, and a research fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina.

His current research investigates neuroendocrine differences that result from and contribute to an animal’s position in social hierarchies. His research at UMW involves laboratory mice, and is chronicled on his website, www.parrishwaters.com.

Dr. Waters teaches Human Anatomy and Human Physiology annually, and also contributes to Research Methods and Biostatistics and topical senior seminar courses. Finally, he has taught two different freshman seminars, The Human Animal and Our Addicted World.

Areas of Expertise

Neuroscience
Scientific Writing
Molecular Biology
Stress Physiology
Human Physiology
Sensory Perception
Hormone Axis Function

Accomplishments

Jepson Fellowship at the University of Mary Washington

2021 - 2022

Faculty Development Fellowship with the UMW Digital Learning Support

2019 - 2020

Faculty Development Fellowship with the UMW Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies

2018 - 2019

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Education

University of South Dakota

Ph.D.

Biology

2007

University of North Carolina

B.A.

Biology

1997

Affiliations

  • Virginia Academy of Science : Long-Term Planning Committee Member, 2020 - Present
  • UMW Sabbaticals, Fellowships, and Faculty Awards Committee : Chair, 2019-2020
  • UMW Biology Honors Committee : Chair 2018-2020

Media Appearances

A Conversation Around Formative Feedback ft. Parrish Waters

Explorance Podcast  radio

2019-12-10

In this episode, Explorance Product Analyst Nitin Sharma speaks with Parrish Waters, Assistant Professor at the University of Mary Washington. He gives a bit of background regarding how he got into teaching and what brought him to Mary Washington. We also touch on how formative feedback is used in his classroom. Parrish realized early on in his career that he could get more value in having students provide input on his teaching throughout the semester instead of just on end of term evaluations.

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Looking Back on This Year's Classroom Experiments

Inside Higher Ed  online

2019-05-22

Last fall, professors told us about their plans to experiment this year with technology-enabled teaching. Now they reflect on the successes and shortcomings. Parrish Waters, assistant professor of biology, University of Mary Washington. What he tried: Encouraging student engagement with help from a formative assessment tool, which he'd used in the classroom previously, but without a cohesive strategy.

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Test-Driving New Classroom Tech Initiatives

Inside Higher Ed  online

2018-09-19

Professors share what they're doing differently in the classroom this fall -- and how they'll measure the success of their experiments. Parrish Waters, assistant professor of biology, University of Mary Washington. What's new: I am using a formative assessment tool (BluePulse) in my Human Anatomy course this semester. This tool is not new to me, but I am taking steps to methodize my implementation of this tool this semester and will examine if student participation with this tool is related to the class’s performance in, and satisfaction with, the course.

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Research Grants

Faculty Travel Grant

University of Mary Washington

2018, for travel to the Society for Neuroscience National Conference

Faculty Research Grant

University of Mary Washington

2019, Identifying qualities of social dominance in mice

Faculty Travel Grant

University of Mary Washington

2017, for travel to the Conference for Undergraduate Research

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Articles

The olfactory bulbectomy disease model: A Re-evaluation

Physiology & Behavior

David M Coppola, R. Parrish Waters

2021

The olfactory bulbectomized rodent has long been one of the preferred animal models of depression and certain other neuropsychiatric diseases. In fact, it is considered unparalleled, by some, in the search for antidepressant medication and the literature generated about the model is prodigious. We have revisited the "syndrome" of behavioral sequela following bulbectomy choosing ecologically valid tests likely to be underpinned with evolutionarily preserved neural circuits. Our test battery included measurements of activity, intermale aggression, pleasure seeking, stress/fear and non-spatial memory.

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Interdisciplinary research experience in computer science and biological sciences

Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges

Parrish Waters, Jennifer A. Polack

2020

Interdisciplinary research is critical to modern-day research. Today researchers should be able to work across disciplinary boundaries seemingly. However, without any practical experience, students graduating from Universities have minimal experience or training. This paper describes one interdisciplinary project that involved several computer science and biological science students and two mentors from each discipline. We description the project, the computer science perspective, the biological science perspective and a conclusion.

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How to Give an Excellent STEM Job Talk

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Russ E. Carpenter and R. Parrish Waters

2019

For Ph.D.s on the job market in the sciences, no element of the hiring process is more important for making or breaking your prospects than the job talk. At some point in the 2019-20 hiring season — once you’ve made the long journey from application packet to Skype interview to campus visit — you will have to deliver a job talk. It will play a large part in determining the next decade or more of your career.

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