{"id":43811,"date":"2025-09-02T15:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T20:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?p=43811"},"modified":"2025-09-30T15:57:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:57:52","slug":"mutualistic-symbiosis-in-the-classroom-and-the-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/09\/mutualistic-symbiosis-in-the-classroom-and-the-field\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Mutualistic symbiosis,\u2019 in the classroom and the field"},"content":{"rendered":"

In successful mentor-mentee relationships, both sides gain, explains UND\u2019s Vasyl Tkach, one of the top scholars \u2014 and mentors \u2014 in parasitology\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Vasyl
Vasyl Tkach in his office. UND archival photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong>\u00a0In the\u00a0UND LEADS Strategic Plan,<\/a><\/strong> the \u201cLearning\u201d<\/strong> <\/a>core value includes calls to \u201cexpand individualized advising and mentoring, to help students see how skills can be transferred across courses and extra-curriculars.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The following story, which was first published in UND Today on Sept. 2, profiles Professor Vasyl Tkach, whose professional skill at mentoring students earned him a national award.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

Professor of Biology<\/a><\/strong> and researcher Vasyl Tkach<\/a><\/strong> loves parasites.<\/strong> And in a way that only a parasitologist could appreciate, he sees mentorship as a kind of passing-on of information and, even more important, passion from one host to the next.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Tkach received the Clark P. Read Mentor Award from the American Society of Parasitologists, a national honor recognizing outstanding mentorship in parasitology. When he accepted the award, he spoke not about himself, but about his students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with my students was and is a privilege and the greatest joy of my professional life,\u201d he told colleagues in his acceptance speech. \u201cI consider this a shared award, as without my students I would not be able to do much. Their support and trust mean to me far more than any award.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the approach Tkach has taken in his two decades of teaching at UND, where his fascination with science has inspired generations of students to pursue careers in biology, medicine and research.<\/p>\n

An early love of biology<\/h2>\n

Tkach\u2019s love for living things began early in his childhood in Ukraine. Exploring the fields and forests around his home led him to develop a fascination with complex living things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very certain since about 8 or 9 years old,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cI spent all the time I could reading books about natural history. There was no Internet, of course, and no TV to watch; just books. And I spent a lot of time with nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, he imagined himself studying plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to be a botanist \u2014 specifically, to study orchids,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have very complex biology and are somewhat parasitic themselves, and I was always attracted to that complexity.\u201d<\/p>\n

But once he encountered parasitology in college, he was hooked. At Uzhhorod State University, one of his first mentors \u2014 a student three years his senior named Vasyl Chumak \u2014 showed him the allure of studying parasites.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis passion for parasites was absolutely infectious,\u201d Tkach recalled. \u201cBeing near him and not trying to do some sort of research on parasites was impossible. So, I tried and never looked back.\u201d<\/p>\n

From then on, parasites became the center of his work. From the flukes in Minnesota lakes to the helminths \u2014 parasitic worms \u2014 of Vietnamese bats, parasites exist all around us, Tkach notes. And while an aversion to these creatures is common among people, Tkach\u2019s fascination with them, like Chumak\u2019s, is infectious in its own right.<\/p>\n

When Tkach was named a Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor in 2021<\/a><\/strong>, UND alumna LeAnne Froese spoke to this passion in her nomination letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe talked about parasites with such enthusiasm,\u201d Froese wrote. \u201cThere are not too many people in this world who can find the beauty in parasites, but it soon became one of my favorite classes. His excitement for learning and all things nature was contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tkach said that, much like orchids, parasites fascinated him because of their complexity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a notion of a living creature living inside other living creatures,\u201d Tkach explained. \u201cThey are extremely well adapted, physiologically, and have complex life cycles. That\u2019s the most fascinating science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mentorship as mutualism<\/h2>\n

To Tkach, mentor-mentee relationships resemble what parasitologists call a \u201cmutualistic symbiosis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA good mentor-student relationship means both sides benefit,\u201d he said. \u201cI learn from my students all the time. If we go through only what I already know, that would be rather a lost time for me and the students. When they ask questions or approach something differently, I\u2019m learning in that process, and it makes things very rewarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not have any particular set of rules because each student is different, with their own strengths, weaknesses, interests, motivation and life outside the lab,\u201d he added. \u201cWe need to learn these things as soon as possible, play to their strengths, and not attempt to change anyone to be similar to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students say that philosophy makes a difference.\u00a0\u201cDr. Tkach was ever-present to give feedback and criticisms,\u201d said Dawn Cleveland, a UND doctoral student in biomedical sciences. \u201cHe is the most involved professor I have ever worked with, and his passion for teaching is deeply apparent.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"a
A slip of paper containing a quote from Asa C. Chandler which compares the development of a parasitologist to that of an orchid, one of Tkach\u2019s first fascinations. A pioneering parasitologist, Chandler\u2019s textbook on the field \u2014 \u201cAnimal Parasites and Human Disease,\u201d first published in 1918 \u2014 went through nine editions. Photo by Walter Criswell\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lessons and bonding in the field<\/h2>\n

But, Tkach explained, some of the most important mentorship opportunities take place outside the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cFieldwork is not only necessary for our research but is the best bonding technique I know,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes, I\u2019ve had to carry my students on my back across a creek. They\u2019ve carried me, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those shared experiences, whether in North Dakota wetlands or the jungles of Vietnam, also give Tkach the chance to draw on another passion: art. He attended art school in his youth and still prepares illustrations of parasites for his publications today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love art and history, and I go to museums wherever I can,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen a student comes back from Florence or Rome and tells me about the paintings and statues they saw, I enjoy that very much, because I have seen them, too, and we can discuss them. I find that it\u2019s a good way to connect and learn about people outside of science.\u201d<\/p>\n

One trip in particular still stands out in his memory. During his acceptance speech, Tkach described taking undergraduate student Stephen Greiman on a collecting expedition to the Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

Greiman had planned to apply for veterinary school and had asked Tkach for a recommendation. But after days of collecting specimens, he surprised his professor on the flight home.<\/p>\n

\u201cStephen asked me to scrap that letter to veterinary school, and write a letter to graduate school instead,\u201d Tkach remembered. \u201cThis bright young man decided to trade the career as a veterinary doctor for becoming a researcher and a university faculty member. Although I usually ask students to think at least twice about such serious choices, I did not do it that time. I was very glad to hear Stephen\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Greiman is a professor at Georgia Southern University and an award-winning parasitologist in his own right.<\/p>\n

A symbiosis that spreads<\/h2>\n

You see, much like the organisms he studies, Tkach\u2019s passion for science has a way of finding new hosts. And that\u2019s the way Tkach likes it, because for him, seeing students such as Greiman thrive is one of the most rewarding parts of his job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is every mentor\u2019s wish that their students surpass them,\u201d Tkach said. \u201cAnd my Ph.D. students have done that, publishing and achieving far more than I did at the same career stage. This brings me joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes me even happier is seeing them bringing flocks of their own students to our meetings. This tells me that the goal has been achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Clark P. Read Mentor Award is the latest in a long list of honors for Tkach, who not only is a past president of the American Society of Parasitologists, but also received the Henry Baldwin Ward Medal \u2014 that organization\u2019s most prestigious award \u2014 in 2017. <\/span>But Tkach views these awards much like he views mentorship: as an ongoing exchange.<\/p>\n

He reflects on his service at UND in much the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cUND wasn\u2019t just my first employment place in the United States,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has treated me really well. I was able to do here far more than I could have ever expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, whatever I can do next is a bonus. I already exceeded my own expectations,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Once again, his students agree. UND alumna Taylor Chermak says that her experience with Tkach was life-changing, proving that the honors he has received were not incidental. Instead, they were wonderful recognitions of an outstanding career:<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not be at my current stage in graduate school and professional development had I joined a different lab,\u201d wrote Chermak in a nomination letter. \u201cI cannot think of another mentor who has demonstrated better leadership to the training of young scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n

****<\/p>\n

>>\u00a0<\/strong>Questions or comments\u00a0<\/strong>about the\u00a0UND LEADS Strategic Plan<\/a>?<\/strong>\u00a0Your thoughts are welcome! Please contact\u00a0Ryan Zerr<\/a><\/strong>, associate vice president for Strategy & Implementation, or\u00a0Anna Marie Kinney<\/strong><\/a>, coordinator of the University Writing Program, the co-chairs of the UND LEADS Implementation Committee. You also may offer your thoughts by visiting the\u00a0UND LEADS Strategic Plan home page<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and clicking on the \u201cProvide your feedback\u201d link.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for your support of the UND LEADS Strategic Plan!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LEARNING strategic priority: \u2018Expand individualized advising and mentoring, to help students see how skills can be transferred across courses and extra-curriculars\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":44008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16,1118,1125],"class_list":["post-43811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-und","tag-arts-sciences","tag-biology","tag-learning"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Mutualistic symbiosis,\u2019 in the classroom and the field - UND Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In successful mentor-mentee relationships, both sides gain, explains UND\u2019s Vasyl Tkach, one of the top scholars \u2014 and mentors \u2014 in parasitology\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/09\/mutualistic-symbiosis-in-the-classroom-and-the-field\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Mutualistic symbiosis,\u2019 in the classroom and the field - 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