Dr. Holly Nash-Rule
Biography
I have been an instructor of biological sciences and mathematics since 2002, and I love it! I have a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and my master’s work was in behavioral medicine both from University of the Pacific. I earned my doctorate in neuroscience, specializing in spinal cord injury repair at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and I completed my post-doctoral training, specializing in traumatic brain injury, at UC Davis.
In addition to my academic background, I have also worked in healthcare, first as a Manager of Quality Services at St. Joseph’s Behavioral Health Center and then as Director of Quality and Risk Services at Mark Twain Hospital.
I have explored different career opportunities in education, but none of them feed my soul like the classroom, so that is where you find me! I lived the life of an adjunct instructor for 13 years, which gave me the opportunity to teach at many community colleges. I was hired full-time at MJC in the Fall of 2015, and earned tenure in 2019. I couldn't be happier!
I put a lot of mileage on my car (I live in Stockton). But, with the pleasure of audio books, podcasts and my passion being pursued, as the saying goes…life is good!
My “play-time” includes spending time with my wife and our mini-zoo. The zoo includes: six cats, three dogs, a rat, a rabbit, a duck, numerous yard squirrels, 17 koi in a 10,000-gallon outdoor pond, and ~10 fish in 500 gallons of indoor saltwater tanks.
I work hard so I can play hard. I love world travel (23 countries and counting!), fine cooking and reading. I am a trained advanced open water, Nitrox certified SCUBA diver, with both PADI and NAUI certifications, and we try to plan our vacations around good SCUBA sites. Our latest big SCUBA adventure was 8 days in Kona Hawai'i diving the reefs and snorkeling during the summer of 2019. The summer of 2017 was spent in England, Belgium, The Netherlands (where we saw Bruno Mars in Amsterdam), and France with my mom for her 65th birthday. I had the amazing opportunity to spend a month in Europe traveling between these countries, and for me, it was the experience of a lifetime! We went on a Christmas/New Year Hawaiian cruise in 2017/18, and we spent the summer of 2018 in Spain, Andorra and Morocco. I never thought I’d get to go to Africa! Finally, in my spare time (what spare time???), I study medieval British history circa 1366 – 1548.
Courses I Teach
Downloadable Files
