Dr. Shaw has taught at Bethel since 1981 and is Bethel's health professions advisor, advising all students who have an interest in pursuing a career in any of the medical or healthcare professions except nursing. He maintains files on programs leading to degrees or certification from a variety of medical, dental, physical therapy, physician's assistant, pharmacy, or other allied health professional programs. He advises the students to make sure they are taking the necessary prerequisiste courses for the health professional program they wish to enter.

His research interests involve tissue culture studies of cells from the developing chick nervous system, animal studies concerning the relationship between the brain and feeding behavior, questions about the human brain, and the relationships between the structure of the brain and behavior.

He teaches BIO201 Human Anatomy, BIO209 Human Anatomy and Physiology, BIO348 Neurobiology, BIO352 Structure and Development of Vertebrates, and BIO409, a summer course in advanced human gross anatomy.