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Christian Copley Salem

Dr. Christian Copley Salem

Biochemistry Professor

Liberal Arts and Sciences

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How many college chemistry professors have a World’s Strongest Man competitor as their coach?

Better yet, how many teachers create a free workbook for students or eliminate subsequent costs by providing students with lab coats and goggles as part of their tuition.

 Dr. Christian Copley Salem does all of that and more as a Western Nevada College chemistry professor. He’s very dedicated to his teaching profession and wants his students to enjoy learning as much as he fancies mentoring them.

“Teachers have always been responsible for transmitting the collective knowledge of humanity forward. This is an intimate process that requires the establishment of trust and the empowering of students to move forward with confidence,” he said. “What I love about teaching is that moment of interaction where someone who was once confused is now confident.”

Dr. Copley Salem hasn’t always been a teacher during his professional career. He previously worked as a store manager while pursuing his dream of teaching college students.

Professor CopleyQ: What is your background and how did you end up at WNC? 

Dr. Copley Salem: I wanted to be a college professor for my entire life. My goal in getting a higher-level degree was to become a college professor, specifically, a community college professor. I attended a community college and it was one of the better college experiences that I had, so I wanted to become one. I got a degree in pharmacology and right as I did that, COVID happened. One of the professors here retired, so right at that moment I was looking for jobs and I got it. Then, I had to apply again for the tenure track position of it, so I got this job twice.

I have an Associate degree in Science from Truckee Meadows Community College (2008) and I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Science Biology from University of Nevada, Reno (2011) and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology (2019) from UNR.

Q: Why do you like teaching at WNC?

Dr. Copley Salem: The students! Just in the interactions with the students. They are so excited to be here, especially with Jump Start; they are very excited to be above their peers learning college information. It is very exciting to watch them adapt and adjust to the way college life is because it’s very different than high school. It’s dramatic. Just being able to interact with them and mentor them, not just in chemistry, but this is how college works and these are the things you can expect going forward, if you go on to a university.

Q: Was there a teacher or a class that inspired you to become an educator?

Dr. Copley Salem: I have to give a shout-out to Mr. Quick from my sophomore year geometry class. He taught math with an excitement in a way that I had not experienced in other math classes. You don’t think of math classes being the exciting, enjoyable experience, but it was for me. Ever since then I thought it would be cool to be the teacher who could instill that kind of excitement in my students. That’s probably why I’m here, too, because it was math, and there’s Math involved in chemistry and it’s all tied together. It’s all Mr. Quick’s fault!

Q: Why would students want to enroll in your classes?

Dr. Copley Salem: The reason you would want to take chemistry from me would be from the immersion and having the opportunity to interact with me and learn things not just about chemistry but about the way college works and the way to move forward in college, specifically with chemistry. I really enjoy teaching and I want my students to enjoy learning from me, so I spend a lot of time putting energy into things that will help them enjoy what they are doing. I don’t want them coming to class and saying, “Ugh, just another day in chemistry!” That’s the last thing I want.

Q: What safeguards do you have in place for your labs to ensure the safety of your students?

Dr. Copley Salem: The majority of it is you design experiments, particularly for 100 level students, where the worse that they could do is get a small burn on their arm from something. We’re working with chemicals that aren’t super toxic, and if we do, there is one lab that uses lead, it’s just a constant reminder: This is lead, don’t mess around, right? Wear gloves, make sure you have your goggles on. I’m constantly reminding them, “Make sure your goggles are on, make sure your lab coats are on and everything.” What makes labs challenging to teach is that you are constantly reminding them to be safe. It’s a process of learning things that you aren’t used to. Goggles are irritating, they fog up, the kind of stuff that makes you want to take them off. I have to demonstrate that if I have to have mine on, they have to have theirs on.

Q: There are a number of compelling reasons to pursue teaching as a career. Can you talk about what might inspire college students to become teachers?

Dr. Copley Salem: Being a teacher is a reward, and you really get out of it as much as you put in. If someone is looking for an academic-based job that gives them the opportunity to pour themselves into it what they put into it, teaching is it. Because you will get the reward based on the amount of effort you put in. And that can be a lot.

I spent the whole summer writing a new workbook for the 121 class so they wouldn’t have to buy one. My goal is to make the class as small in financial impact as possible, and at this point, they don’t pay for anything outside of their tuition. I basically give them everything for free for lots of different reasons. College is notoriously expensive after you pay for tuition. You have the ability to impact people’s lives and that extra work that you put in pays dividends for them, which is really rewarding. Especially when I tell them that you don’t have to pay for a lab coat and goggles. I have them in the back and I’ll just pass them out, and tell them that their yours and you can keep them. And they go, “Oh, really?”

Q: What is something unusual or unique that students don’t know about you?

Dr. Copley Salem: My current students know everything they need to know about me.

I do weight-lifting. That’s a thing people like to know. I have a World’s Strongest Man professional as a coach. He doesn’t mess around, so I don’t either. So, four times a week I go to the gym and lift heavy stuff. It’s fun and I enjoy it. It keeps me from feeling my age.

I have competed 3-4 times, mostly in the Reno area. My coach competes in World Strongest Man so his whole focus is to compete and to get me to compete.

Everything else I do is very academic. I like to read, I collect books. I hang out in used book stores because they smell nice.

View Copley's Class Schedule