Matt Downen
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Offices & Programs
Education
BS: geology, Western Kentucky University
MS: geology, University of Kansas
PhD: geology, University of Kansas
BIOGRAPHY
Matt Downen joined Centre College in 2023 as the Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and as an Assistant Professor in Environmental Studies.
In the Center for Teaching and Learning, Downen helped implement faculty development programs to enhance teaching effectiveness and support assessment processes across various academic areas. Downen’s teaching interests include introductory geology and environmental geology.
Their research is at the intersection of fear and fascination—fossil spiders. While he still likes spiders and rocks, Downen pursues other directions including academic support, pedagogy, and making classrooms and fieldwork more inclusive. Their recent scholarship includes both fossil preservation and pedagogy topics, including particularly promising pedagogy practices to support making visible/inclusivity of the identities and groups of people.
Downen participated in the Kentucky Governor’s Scholar Program at Centre College, and later was the Recycling Coordinator at Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College. In 2022, Downen was the Assistant Director of the Center for Undergraduate Research at the University of Kansas (KU). At KU, Downen focused on supporting faculty and staff in their roles as research mentors as well as helping instructors incorporate research into their courses and develop First-Year Seminars.
PUBLICATIONS
Downen, M. R., Schiffbauer, J., Selden, P. A., Olcott A. N. 2022. Steinkern spiders: A microbial mat-controlled taphonomic pathway in the Oligocene Aix-en-Provence Lagerstätte, France. Palaeoentomology 5(6). https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.6.4
Downen, M. R., Olcott, A. N. 2022. Supporting LGBTQ+ geoscientists, in and out of the classroom. Journal of Geoscience Education. DOI: 10.1080/10899995.2022.2116205
Downen, M. R., Selden, P. A. 2021. A palpimanid spider (Araneae: Palpimanidae) from the Crato Fossil-Lagerstätte (Cretaceous, Brazil). Journal of Arachnology 49:91–97. https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-19-059
Downen, M. R., Selden, P. A. 2020. Fossil spiders (Araneae) from the Eocene Kishenehn Formation of Montana. Paleontologia Electronica 23(3):a57. https://doi.org/10.26879/1135
Downen, M. R., Selden, P. A., Hasiotis, S. T. 2016. Spider leg flexure as an indicator of salinity in lacustrine paleoenvironments. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 445:115–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.11.028