NFCC Professor Dr. Carol Burkart

Leading the Way to Academic Excellence

MADISON, FL - Fall Term 2018 marked Dr. Carol Burkart’s first semester at North Florida Community College as a biology instructor, but she is not new to the classroom. She joins the NFCC science department after 18 years as a full-time faculty member at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap, Va. and years of research.

“I was interested in science as long as I can remember,” said Burkart. “I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau and was always fascinated by the marine environment and the organisms that live in it.”

Earning an undergraduate degree at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Burkart received a master’s degree and doctorate at Nova Southeastern University. She started adjunct teaching at Broward Community College and later Palm Beach State College. Her degrees in marine science and oceanography have taken her around the world for research projects and scientific meetings - studying a semester in St. Croix, giving a presentation on her master’s thesis in Wales, and participating in research cruises in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida Bay, the Irish Sea and the Weddell Sea off the Antarctic Peninsula. In 2012, Burkart received MECC’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

Currently, she is developing an Introduction to Oceanography course for NFCC set to begin fall 2019. “The course will go over the interdisciplinary nature of oceanography (chemical, geological, physical and biological), with emphasis on Florida including current environmental issues,” said Burkart. “Every county in Florida is considered coastal. No matter where you live in Florida, you have an impact on the marine environment. This course will help students gain a better understanding of where they live.”

As for Burkart, she says she feels very much at home after her first term of teaching at NFCC. “Whether it was my fellow science faculty or a fellow employee I met while walking across campus, I have been made to feel at home.”