Jill Leonard-Pingle is an Associate Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and an Ohio Prison Educational Exchange Program faculty member. She is an invertebrate paleontologist interested in how the environment shapes biological communities. She examines how environmental change can shape evolution in deeper geologic time, but also how anthropogenic impacts are changing communities on historical time scales.
How and when did you become involved with OPEEP?
I first became involved with OPEEP in 2021 when I took the Inside-Out Instructor training.
What courses will you be teaching for OPEEP, and what challenges do you foresee?
I will be teaching Earth Science 1110– History of Life on Earth: Global Change in the Biosphere. I love to use a lot of “props” in my teaching, like samples of rocks and fossils. I know that getting permission to bring these into a correctional facility might be a bit challenging, but I am hoping that with some planning and open dialogue, that I will be able to find creative solutions so that I can offer the same level of engagement and enrichment to my classroom that I do while teaching on campus.
What takeaways would you like students to leave your class with?
I want students to come away from my class with a changed perspective and new appreciation for the immense length oft he history of Earth and the life that lives on it. I think that having a longer view can profoundly influence how a person thinks about and addresses current environment issues, as having a better appreciation for the complexity of systems and their coevolution helps us to understand that we don’t know all the answers and have a very limited ability to foresee how our collective actions will impact natural systems. I also just hope that students will have a fun time learning about all of the really funky and cool creatures that have walked the Earth in the past!
What is the one thing you wish more people knew about prison abolition and transformative justice?
I wish that people understood that prison abolition is not about removing individual accountability, but instead it is about working to address social issues that lead to incarceration and focusing more on repairing the harm that was done through the crime. Focusing on restorative/transformative justice is better for both the victim of the crime and the person who committed the crime, because it allows for healing, learning, and meaningful recovery.
Which book are you most looking forward to teaching?
Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World by Marcia Bjornerud.
As a side note, I was able to get in contact with the author, and she has very kindly provided free copies of the book for the incarcerated students that enroll in this class!
What do you like to do in your free time?
I enjoy hiking, biking, gardening, and spending time with my kids (when they will tolerate me).
