Instructor Spotlight: Dr. Vetter
Dr. Kristina Vetter is the AP Biology and Wellness teacher at OHS, known for her passion and enthusiastic approach to the sciences!
When Dr. Vetter was young, she had no idea that she would be teaching AP Biology in an online school, or that she would be teaching biology at all. As a child, Dr. Vetter loved the outdoors and was fascinated by the languages, which inclined her to believe that she would major in international politics and become a glamorous spy. But as she grew older, she began to realize that maybe this career path was not best suited for her. In college, Dr. Vetter became passionately interested in physics. Physics didn’t come easy at first, but its challenge is what left Dr. Vetter hooked onto the subject. Tackling challenges and exploring new boundaries have been two of the defining qualities of Dr. Vetter’s career, and as she began to wrap her head around the subject, Dr. Vetter started to love physics so much that she ended up majoring in it.
But physics wasn’t Dr. Vetter’s only passion. As a senior in college, Dr. Vetter began to realize that while she loved physics intellectually, research in the field wasn’t her true calling. At the same time, having been fascinated by a biology class in genetics that she had taken, Dr. Vetter realized that it was a combination of the two subjects, biology and physics, that really appealed to her. She had the incredible opportunity to move to Sweden for a couple years and participate in a training in biology for people who had a physics or engineering background. While she was there, she found a couple ways to explore biophysics. In Sweden, Dr. Vetter studied radiation biology, looking at novel therapies to treat cancers and AVMs, or arteriovenous malformations, which are an abnormal tangle of blood vessels in the brain. From there, her passion in biology skyrocketed.
Inspired by her research in Sweden, Dr. Vetter thought of applying to medical school and ended up going back to the States. However, while volunteering at a New England aquarium and looking at the incredible and diverse plants and animals that inhabit the ocean, Dr. Vetter began to become intrigued by marine biology. Always looking for interdisciplinary connections, Dr. Vetter started dreaming of the possibilities of applying physics and engineering to further understand organisms in marine environments. While applying to graduate programs in the field, Dr. Vetter received a scholarship from Stanford, where she pursued her studies.
But her incredible journey didn’t stop there! After receiving her PhD from Stanford, where she studied the effect of surf zone turbulence on fertilization and early development in invertebrates, Dr. Vetter moved to UC Berkeley, Stanford’s archrival school, to pursue her postdoc. It was there, when studying how crustaceans follow odor trails, that Dr. Vetter became intrigued in neuroscience. She remembers being drawn in to understanding “what is happening from a neurophysiological point of view to the olfactory nerve for it to process the odors in the brain, informing the crustacean about how it should make decisions.” From there, Dr. Vetter moved to Denison University in Ohio for a number of years, studying behavior and the combination of neuroscience and the environment before eventually moving back to the Bay Area.
Seeking a job that is mentally stimulating while wanting to spend more time with her children who were in elementary and middle school, Dr. Vetter joined Stanford Online High School, where she has been teaching for 6 years. Dr. Vetter is known for the incredible work she does teaching AP Biology and Wellness. She also sponsors the neuroscience club, sharing her vast knowledge in the brain and the nervous system with the student body, and the climate action club, focusing on the effects of global warming on our planet, while hosting office hours in marine science for all who are interested.
Dr. Vetter leading Brain Bonanza as a part of the Neuroscience Club, PixelFest 2019
Dr. Vetter loves being a part of the OHS community, noting, “I have never worked with a group of instructors or staff who are more committed to pedagogy, to the school, and to everyone who’s part of the school community.” Dr. Vetter also appreciates the incredible enthusiasm, creativity, and boundless energy that OHS students have, reminiscing how it was the amazing people whom she met in her first year as a teacher that really drew her into the school.
In her free time, Dr. Vetter loves to read novels and cook. Her childhood passion for the outdoors has not waned as she is an enthusiastic participant in the Highland games, an extremely fun variety of sports all oriented around throwing heavy objects. Dr. Vetter actually hosted a Highland games activity at Pixelfest a couple years back, and needless to say, it was a smashing success!
Dr. Vetter tossing a caber in Highland games competition. Students got to try this activity at PixelFest 2018
To OHS students, Dr. Vetter has one important piece of advice: “Be open-minded!” For all the buzzing scientists at our school, Dr. Vetter reminds us that “the science you start with might not be the science you end up with.” She believes that everyone has a niche for themself, and looking for things that may not be as published or written about may enable someone to be more productive and make their mark quickly. Dr. Vetter also recommends everyone to keep their eyes peeled for research opportunities that could be anywhere, as they can be helpful for one to get a foothold on science and what goes on in the real world.