by Xypher Pino

An adjunct professor from 2014 to 2019 here at Greensboro College, Professor Jessica Bostic is now GC’s newly hired assistant of Biology professor. She has earned multiple degrees, including a B.S. in Biology from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master’s in biology with a concentration in genetics from The University of Nebraska at Kearney. Currently, Bostic is working on her dissertation for her Ph.D. in Instructional Design and Technology from Liberty University.

During her educational career, Bostic undertook multiple research
projects. For her master’s, she performed quantitative research on a
population study of eastern box turtles. She compared different capture methods for the turtles, discovering that dogs that are specifically trained to find eastern box turtles were the best method to do so. For her Ph.D., she is doing qualitative research on biology faculty and their transition from traditional labs to non-traditional labs, a change occurring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of now, there is not much research available on what happens to faculty during this transition, hence why Bostic wants to focus her dissertation on this area.

According to Bostic, most students prefer in-person labs even though the grades and learning outcomes are the same according to other research. When asked what she preferred between in-person labs and virtual labs, she stated that she wants to “make science education more accessible.

“Right now, there are not a lot of online degree options for sciences. I am very pro on figuring out what is missing from non-traditional labs for faculty so that they offer them more often and it is more obtainable for non-traditional students. One university that I found sends lab kits to the
student’s home, and they conduct the labs at home. I really love those because you can be teaching someone in Germany or wherever they are, but they could be doing the same thing as you are.”

Coming from a family of blue-collar workers, Bostic’s parents taught her at an early age that she could achieve anything through hard work. She had to work her way up the ranks to get into the position that she is currently in. By making education more accessible, she believes that she can help aspiring people reach their goals in life.

Outside of school and education, Bostic enjoys spending time with her loving family of five. She has two boys and one girl, and all of them are heavily involved in sports at their respective schools. Bostic and her husband have been attending each one of their children’s games and competitions – a serious dedication!

Besides that, Bostic also loves to create and build things, resulting in a passion for renovation and carpentry.

“I love renovations,” she said. “We have completely renovated our house from bottom to top in the past three years through COVID. There is nothing original in the house – not windows, not walls, everything has been gutted and redone.”

Bostic also loves traveling. She wants to explore the world and discover new things. A couple of places that she would love to travel to are Australia and the Galapagos Islands. She has even promised her children an international trip before they head off to college.

“My daughter has chosen Greece. Of course, she picks one of the most expensive places to travel but leave it to the daughter. We plan to do it the summer before her senior year, so I think we are going to do a Greek island
cruise next year.”

Her favorite quote is, “Day-by-day when you can, hour-by-hour if you can’t.”

She added: “Do not give up. Everything is temporary and if you just take it hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute, you can get through it to the other side and come out of it. I think we all take ourselves in life way too seriously
and look at everything as if it is a life-or-death situation. You can make mistakes and come back from them. Nobody is perfect.”

Prof. Bostic is a very loving and caring person with a deep passion for education. Without a doubt, she will significantly enhance the already high quality of GC’s biology department. Bostic is currently teaching both levels of anatomy and physiology alongside genetics, with plans to teach Comparative Vertebrates in the future. You will want to take her classes in
the future, even if you are not a biology major. Do not hesitate to reach out to her at jessica.bostic@greensboro.edu with any questions.