Biologists, educators recognize excellence in evolution...(pon learning that he had been selected t...)

Yannielli began his career teaching evolution in a small-town public high school where he frequently encountered resistance from religious fundamentalists. After several years of working in the precollege arena, Yannielli moved on to NVCC. "I found community college teaching fertile ground for dovetailing all [my] goals," said Yannielli. In addition to teaching biology courses at NVCC, Yannielli has also developed innovative instructional materials and organized numerous discussions about evolution.

Yannielli has worked to educate colleagues across the academic disciplines about the importance of teaching evolution. He presented an active learning approach to evolution education at the University of Oxford and has initiated several panels on evolution education for faculty and students at NVCC. Dr. Bonnie Simon, a colleague at NVCC, said that Yannielli "epitomizes a creative, effective teacher who is dedicated to collaborating and promoting the accurate understanding of biological education."

Yannielli earned his bachelor's degree in zoology with a minor in chemistry from the University of Connecticut and has two master's degrees (one in science education and one in ecology) from Southern Connecticut State University.

Previous honors and awards for Yannielli include the United Way Community Service Award and a NVCC Merit Award for an evolution teaching initiative. Yannielli was also awarded an Earthwatch grant in 2001 that allowed him to work with Chilean colleagues to do field research and prevent the potentially detrimental introduction of non-native salmon on Navarino Island in Chile.

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