Students might think of their professors as just teachers, and they are teachers, but they do a whole lot else that maybe you don't see. As we'll hear, professors focus on their teaching, both graduate and undergraduate teaching, their research and their service. And all of these work together to make a scholar, who explores new ideas and concepts. Brings those findings into the classroom, and then works to make the university function better. So we chatted with a few faculty members about their blend of teaching, research, and service. >> So as a faculty member at a large university, I have the best job that I could possibly think of. Every day, I'm oftentimes doing something that's different. So there are days when I'm in the classroom with a group of people that work in companies outside the university. I'm with a group of students that have come to the university. It's their second year and they're just starting to learn about a particular discipline. I'm in the lab working on some research, or I'm out in the field collecting data, or I'm doing service in some organization. And everyday, I might be doing four or five of those things in one day. So my days are incredibly varied and interesting. >> My research feeds my teaching. That is I'm constantly working on research projects. Which then feed back into my teaching and at the same time, the teaching, the work in the classroom, it gives me an opportunity to see the object of my research from a different angle, so they really feed each other. >> My favorite thing about teaching is that lightbulb moment. When you're working with students and there's that kind of quizzical, I'm not quite following you, I don't quite get it look. And you stop and you think, I'm gonna explain this in another way. I'm gonna show you what I'm talking about in another way. And a student will say, oh, I get it. And beyond that they'll say, that's cool, that's really what I wanna do. And those moments where you can just feel a student leap ahead in knowledge, and in enthusiasm and desire for doing something. That's what I live for as a professor. >> So one of the research projects that we're working on right now, is a project that involves students from across the university. I have a team of 60 students and from 15 different departments, and we're taking a gasoline powered vehicle, and we're converting it into a plug-in hybrid. It happens to be a 2016 Camaro. So we've had the drawings for this car for about nine months now. We've just completed our initial design. And by the end of the year, we'll have a brand new hybrid Camaro. >> So as a faculty member at a university, a huge part of my job starts with discovery. So discovery is kind of figuring out what the boundaries are of what we know about my area, and then expanding those boundaries. And that's usually with students at all levels that I'm working with, whether in lab or in field environments. And then, there are times, when I'm out there taking what we've discovered and we know how it works into the field working with organizations. And my work has taken me around the world with some of the people that I work with here. Some of the students, and some other faculty. >> Well the really cool thing about science is, it evolves. Every single day, we find out something new in science. So it's very, very hard to teach science from a textbook. Because the second that it's printed, it's out of date. And the really great thing about being at a university is, you are surrounded by people who are discovering new things in science every day. And they're bringing those discoveries into the classroom. So you get the newest, freshest science by being a student. >> So the typical faculty member at the Lodge Research University is involved in three aspects. Research, teaching, and service. Throughout my career, I have focused on the service part and the research as well, but my service activities have always been focused on serving students. So, I've been on student committees that helped revise the student conduct code. We look at making policies and practices at the university that help students. >> The coolest thing that I do is called citizen science. And so, I ask really broad scale questions over entire continents or oceans, and I involve hundreds, even thousands of people in doing my research with me. So I'm out on the coast, in the coastal environment, all the time, with lots of people, and we're all collecting data about what's happening with the ocean? So to me, that's great, because it takes science out beyond the ivory tower and it gives it to the public. And in doing that, the public is much more connected to the university. >> Research, teaching, and service. This is what a professor does. This is what a scholar does. It is how faculty get hired. It's how they get promoted. By analyzing that blend of research, teaching, and service. Hopefully, understanding this can help you understand your professor a little bit better, and what he or she does.