Makes complex topics easy to understand.
I'm not gonna say she is terrible but they can be ways to improve how she teaches and marks. You can do a practice essay before and she will definitely find time to mark and give feedback. My main issue was how she marked exams, require a lot of content and explanation in a short time. To be honest, it is doable if you know the content inside out and eat, sleep, breathe it but I'm not gonna lie and say thats easy since I had to do that for other courses but write other essays as well. Very knowledgeable about her area of expertise. No nonsense lady.
She (along with the like 5 other lecturers) taught me SciMedTech (FOUN1201). She was a good lecturer, and accomplished enough in her field to give us actual insight behind the things she was teaching us from the course material.
Sylvia Mitchell, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, specializing in Health Science through her leadership in medicinal plant biotechnology. Born in Ghana and raised in Jamaica since age nine, she earned a double major BSc in Geography and Botany followed by a PhD in Biotechnology from UWI in 2000. With over 32 years in plant tissue culture, including seven years at the Scientific Research Council, she joined UWI in 1999 and founded the Medicinal Plant Biotechnology Research (MPBR) group at the Biotechnology Centre and Caribbean Centre for Research in Bioscience (CCRIB). Her research encompasses ethnobiotechnology, micropropagation, somatic embryogenesis, in vitro physiology, medicinal plant monographs, biofarming, biochar soil ameliorants, and value-added product development for crops like ackee, arrowroot, bamboo, chainy root, fever grass, ginger, guinea hen weed, neem, pineapple, sarsaparilla, sweet potato, turmeric, and yam. This work has provided clean planting material and training to thousands of Jamaican farmers and communities, promoting sustainable biodiversity use for health, nutraceuticals, and climate justice.
Dr. Mitchell has supervised 24 undergraduate projects, five MPhil, five MSc, and four PhD theses. Her scholarly output includes 27 refereed journal articles, book chapters, an e-book, conference papers, and technical reports. Notable publications are "TRAMIL ethnomedicinal survey of Jamaica" (Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2015; UWI Best Paper Award 2016), "A Review of Medicinal Plant Research at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 1948-2001" (West Indian Medical Journal, 2006), and "Biotechnology: Principles and Applications" chapter (Pharmacognosy, 2023). Awards include Phenomenal Woman in Agriculture (Jamaica Agricultural Society, 2024), UWI Principal’s Research Award for greatest business/economic impact (2025), FAO Global Technical Recognition for Sustainable Plant Production (2025), multiple Bureau of Standards Jamaica Technical Committee awards (2018-2025), Society for In Vitro Biology Distinguished Service Awards (2015, 2021), UWI 70+ Women of Distinction (2019), and UWI Long Service Award for 21 years (2021). She serves on boards of Bureau of Standards Jamaica and College of Agriculture, Science and Education, co-edits the Society for In Vitro Biology newsletter, and teaches courses in biotechnology, plant biochemistry, and foundation science.
