Jack Sytsma exudes passion, energy and a friendly disposition. And it is those qualities, and many more, that are driving him to become a college professor following his graduation in a few semesters.
With an eye toward teaching biology at the university level, in August 2021, Sytsma made the move from his home state of Iowa to K-State to pursue his master’s degree to do more research and expand his knowledge base. Last year, as he neared the end of his master’s work, Sytsma decided to continue at K-State for a doctoral degree.
“There were a few things that drew me to K-State originally,” Sytsma said. “One would be the opportunities that are provided by the university, my advisor and the research I am getting involved with, but also the teaching opportunities.”
Growing up, Sytsma didn’t know much about K-State. Then he attended a conference on the Konza Prairie. That experience shifted his personal educational trajectory, bringing him to K-State for his graduate career.
Sytsma, who earned dual undergraduate degrees in biology and Spanish from Central College in Pella, Iowa, has focused his research on tallgrass prairie ecology and native ecosystem restoration while in Manhattan. Sytsma’s major professor is Dr. Loretta Johnson, professor of biology.
Throughout his first two years at K-State, Sytsma has traveled to, researched and worked on prairies across the country, from Louisiana to the Carolinas to Colorado, allowing him to study an array of species. On the Konza, his focus is on the Big Bluestem species and how climate, rainfall, temperature and soil, among other things, impact the plant’s growth across vast areas in the United States.
Sytsma’s parents are landscapers and horticulturalists by trade and introduced him to the field as a youngster, carting him around to state parks in Iowa. Those trips allowed him to observe all that nature has to offer, from the birds in the sky to the grasses between his toes, giving birth to an initial love of science.
The focus on biology itself came during his undergrad years when he did a four-year research project on Monarch butterflies.
“That was the spark and what brought me to plants and tallgrass prairie,” Sytsma said.
But it is his love of teaching and biology that has kept him in the classroom, though how he passes that on is what he has yet to figure out.
“I’ve been thinking about this and I go back and forth between general biology or teaching a 300- or 400-level biology course,” Sytsma said. “But I love general biology, being the one to inspire people; or at least being the first introduction to college-level science.”
Sytsma started as a teaching assistant during his second semester at Central College teaching biology, as well as an ESL program at a local community college, for four years. After arriving in Manhattan, he “fell deeply in love with teaching,” admitting that while he enjoyed it during undergrad, it was when he began teaching as the instructor of record that he found out that he “could do this the rest of my life and really be happy.”
In addition to his teaching and research activities, Sytsma engages in professional development events and regularly showcases his research at events hosted by the Graduate School and Graduate Student Council.
Even with a very busy schedule of activities and commitments that contribute to Sytsma’s academic and career goals, he also finds time to share his love of K-State with future graduate students through the Graduate Student Ambassadors program. Sytsma connects with prospective graduate students via email and in Graduate School recruitment events, and he shares his experiences with incoming graduate students at orientation.
“I always try to give back to the Graduate School because this is the perfect school for me,” Sytsma said.