BY ALLIE FALK / VN STAFF WRITER
Detroit Mercy is home to plenty of phenomenal professors, and Eva Nyutu has come to campus hoping to join this bunch as an assistant biology professor.
Graduating from Western Michigan in 2020, she earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences. She already had two master’s degrees, one in plants education from North Carolina State University and the other in biology from Western Kentucky University.
Nyutu had been teaching for over 15 years when she took on the role of assistant biology professor at Detroit Mercy this fall.
Nyutu’s interest in biology goes way back.
With her father being a veterinarian and her mother being a professor, she first envisioned teaching biology many years ago.
In middle school, photosynthesis sparked her interest. Then in ninth grade, figuring out how things worked within plants and in biology sparked her desire to discover more.
Nyutu describes herself as a hands-on type of person, so going on field trips was one of her favorite activities.
“Many students struggle a lot in biology,” she said. “I wanted to figure out how I can make learning more interesting, and how I could make my classes more active to keep them participating. But I’ve been looking for a full-time position to give back to the community and carry out research. I was on the hunt, and this position came up.”
Nyutu said she enjoys being at Detroit Mercy.
She said she values each department, the students and especially the mission.
“I like the biology department; they are very welcoming,” she said. “They showed me around, and the students are very likeable. Their backgrounds are diverse, which is great.”
Nyutu involves her students through class discussions and hands-on projects.
It helps them to understand the material better, she said.
Although Nyutu is happy where she’s at now, it took a lot of work to get here and it wasn’t easy, she said.
She advises students to stay focused and keep their eye on the goal.
She said having good mentors greatly impacted her journey.
And never giving up was key.
