Dr. Jelagat Cheruiyot is a senior professor of practice in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), School of Science and Engineering. Dr. Cheruiyot Joined EEB in 2017. Cheruiyot is deeply engaged in both academia and community engagement locally, regionally, and internationally. Born and raised in Kenya, she holds a Ph.D. in biological science from Auburn University, Alabama, where she studied the elemental defense, hypothesis, joint effects, and the trophic transfer of heavy metals using two insect species as study systems: Spodoptera exigua and Podisus maculiventris. At Tulane, Cheruiyot has been instrumental in integrating service learning into her courses and everyday practice community member in New Orleans. She teaches a diverse range of students from freshman to seniors and graduate students, with an emphasize on community engaged projects such as community gardens, recycling, composting, ecosystem restoration and informed cultural participation. Her impact extends beyond the students and the classroom. She has guided fellow faculty members from different school at Tulane in incorporating service learning into their courses. Outside of academia, Dr. Cheruiyot is active in the community, serving on advisory boards such as Glass Half Full, and board of directors as Glassroots Nola. Her commitment to education and community engagement underscores her roles as a leader, educator in environmental stewardship at Tulane. Cheruiyot’s dedication to teaching and community engagement has been recognized through various awards including the Weiss Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, School of Science and Engineering Teaching Award, Newcomb Tulane Duren Professor, Barbara E. Moely, Service Learning Teaching Award and Coastal Stewardship Award by the coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. She is currently the Kylene and Brad Beers II Professor of Social Entrepreneurship Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking.
