Sasha has been an Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, since 2016.

In 2017 and 2018, he has taught BCHM 3P01 – Metabolic Biochemistry (enrolment 92), and BIOL 2P03 – Cell Biology (enrolment 299). BIOL 2P03 is a relatively large core course and a prerequisite for most third-year specialized courses in Biology. Through his course, students are well prepared to move on and continue achieving at an above average level in subsequent studies.

His teaching experience at Brock also includes BIOL/BTEC 3P50 – Molecular Genetics (enrolment 88) and in 2017 he designed and implemented a new course, BIOL/BTEC 4P20 – Synthetic Biology, with the goal of providing senior-level students with the opportunity to integrate and synthesize the cumulative skills and knowledge they have learned during their undergraduate degrees.

In a letter of support, Robert Carlone, Professor, Biological Sciences, who is on the supervisory committees of a number of Sasha’s students, comments:
“In addition to his teaching success, he has excelled in his role as supervisor of undergrad and grad thesis projects. He has taken on a large number of students and has them all performing at a level well beyond the norm in our department … I find that their projects are exciting and current and more importantly, the students have a good understanding of why they are doing what they are doing…”

Sasha spent the past two years organizing the first ever Brock University team to participate in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM – www.igem.org) competition. Under his supervision the Brock team participated in iGEM this year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and was awarded a Bronze medal for their efforts; an extraordinary achievement for a first-year team that was in direct competition with students and teams from top Universities around the world (MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, The University of Toronto etc.).

Teaching philosophy statement

“… my primary goals as an educator are to instill in my students a sense of wonder in the natural world, to encourage them to follow their interests, and to provide them with the tools that will enable them to pursue their curiosity with the aid of reason as a guide such that they become engaged and participate in the subject that they are learning.
“I enthusiastically invest my energy into developing a dynamic, world class academic curriculum and extra-curricular pedagogical opportunities that attract enthusiastic young biologists, and serve to provide them with a fundamental understanding of biological systems and the critical reasoning skills necessary for them to be successful across a broad range of careers in both academia and industry. “

Sasha consistently receives outstanding student evaluations and is described as:

• an excellent cell biologist and researcher with a deep commitment to teaching
• he creates a welcoming and supportive environment that makes it so easy to learn and to ask questions
• what sets Dr. Necakov apart from other professors is his eagerness to provide students with tools and facilities that will benefit their scientific research and inquiries.
• Dr. Necakov has endless patience; every student’s mistake is viewed as a learning opportunity, never as a failure.
• Sasha can enlighten an individual, not only to what they have learned but, in a safe and caring way show what one still has to learn.

Examples of Student testimonials:

“Before working under Dr. Necakov, I was a mediocre student struggling in several of my classes and lacking direction in my studies. From the very start, Dr. Necakov took the time and had the patience to teach me many advanced lab techniques I would not have otherwise learned until well into graduate school….. “The confidence he gave me and the impact of his mentorship on my studies cannot be overstated, but I believe is partly exemplified by the fact that I rose to the top of almost all of my classes in my 3rd and 4th years, finishing my final year with a 92% average, up from 75% only 2 years prior.”

“Dr. Necakov exudes approachableness. If you were to ask any person in the Department of Biological Sciences to describe Dr. Necakov, they would first-handily talk about how kind and hospitable he is. Secondly, they would mention how curious and inquisitive he is. Dr. Necakov creates a welcoming and supportive environment that makes it so easy to learn and to ask questions. I consider myself lucky to be completing my thesis research in such an environment.”