By: Anna Bailey, reporter
Professor’s name: Dr. Joel Klinck
Department: Biology
How long have you been teaching at Redeemer?
I started six years ago; this is my fifth year teaching. I was on parental leave last year.
How did you come to Redeemer?
When I was doing my undergrad in biology at Laurier, I had a research project in fourth year with a research professor who was studying how metals affect fish. I was pretty interested — I like fish. I wasn’t ready for a masters program, so I contacted the prof and asked him for work. I worked for him for eight months and then realized I could do the same type of work and get a master’s degree.
A couple years into it, I saw how it could be a larger project and switched into the Ph.D program. I was close to finishing the process when, tragically, the prof passed away. Someone suggested I approach the professor at Mac who had supervised my first prof’s Ph.D. He was doing similar research in fish and metals. He took me on last minute and I ended up in Hamilton. At first, like many other people, I thought, “Why move to Hamilton?” However, I had just gotten married and my wife and I grew to love the city. When I finished my Ph.D and there was a job ad for a position here at Redeemer, I was thrilled that there was a chance we could stay in Hamilton.
Where are you from?
I grew up in Quebec, in a small town called Lennoxville. It’s an English community in rural Quebec.
What are some of your hobbies?
Fishing and gardening; I don’t know why I like fish so much. I like to try different things but those are my current hobbies.
Where is the most interesting place you’ve ever been?
The most interesting would be Nepal; I spent a month there in high school.
If you could invent any class and teach it, what would it be?
I kind of did, and I’ll be teaching it the year after next. It’s a comparative animal physiology class. I love animals and I find it fascinating how they can basically live in all sorts of different environments and they manage to do that through their different physiology. It’s a course exploring God’s creation in a new way.
What’s your favorite pizza topping?
I shouldn’t have to think about it for this long… let’s go with barbequed chicken.
What’s the most memorable thing that’s ever happened in your classroom?
On my first day here, I was really nervous and I was warning my class about spelling my name right when they email me; a lot of people forget the “c.” I was writing it on the board and I forgot the “c” in my own name. It was really embarrassing, but it also broke the ice.