WHF Catalog :: Our Authors::Biology

James R. Morris

James R. Morris is Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Brandeis University. He teaches a wide variety of courses for majors and non-majors in evolution, genetics, genomics, anatomy, and health sciences. In addition, he teaches a first-year seminar focusing on Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards from Harvard and Brandeis. His research focuses on the rapidly growing field of epigenetics, making use of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. He currently pursues this research with undergraduates in order to give them the opportunity to do genuine, laboratory-based research early in their scientific careers. Dr. Morris received a Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. In addition, he was a Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University, gave talks to the public on current science at the Museum of Science in Boston, and works on promoting public understanding of personal genetics and genomics.

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Richard M. Myers

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David L. Nelson

David L. Nelson is Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is also the Academic Program Director for university's Institute for Cross-college Biology Education.

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Michael O'Donnell

Michael O’Donnell received his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, where he worked under Charles Williams Jr. on electron transfer in the flavoprotein thioredoxin reductase. He performed postdoctoral work on E. coli replication with Arthur Kornberg and then on herpes simplex virus replication with I. Robert Lehman, both in the biochemistry department at Stanford University. O’Donnell then became a member of the faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College in 1986 and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1992 before moving to The Rockefeller University in 1996. O’Donnell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Gordon H. Orians

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Barbara A. Osborne

Barbara A. Osborne is Professor of Immunology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. A highly active researcher, recognized for her contributions to the fast-miving area of apoptosis, Osborne also teaches immunology to graduate and undergraduate students.

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Judy Owen

Judith Owen has served on the faculty of Haverford College, Pennsylvania since 1981, where she is the first holder of the Elizabeth Ufford Green Chair of Natural Sciences. Judith earned B.A. and M.A. (Hons) degrees from Cambridge University, England and pursued her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania with the late Dr. Norman Klinman followed by postdoctoral studies at the Wistar Institute with Dr. Peter Doherty. Judith has served on the Education Committee of the American Association of Immunologists, (AAI) and as Chair of the AAI Membership Committee. She is a recipient of the AAI Academic Mentoring Award, the Charles and Mary Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching and of a Career Advancement Award and a Faculty Award for Women from the NSF.

Together, Jennifer Punt and Judith Owen initiated the AAI Introductory Immunology course, which is now offered on an annual basis.

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Joy Perry

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Christine Pfund

Christine Pfund, Ph.D. is a researcher at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). She currently works for several programs across the UW campus including the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, the Center for Women’s Health Research and the Delta Program in Research, Teaching, and Learning. Chris’ work has focused on preparing current and future faculty to be effective teachers and research mentors. Over the past nine years, Chris has been integrally involved in developing, implementing, documenting, and evaluating a training seminar for research mentors. She has co-authored a manual for facilitators of this seminar, Entering Mentoring, and co-authored a paper documenting the effectiveness of this approach. Chris has led a project to adapt and enhance Entering Mentoring for use across science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. Most recently, Chris has led the effort to adapt the research mentor training curriculum for use with mentors engaged in clinical and translational science. Dr. Pfund is currently involved in a randomized research study to test the impact of research mentor training on both mentors and mentees and a study to develop a better understanding of specific factors in mentoring relationships that account for positive student outcomes.

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Jay Phelan

Jay Phelan teaches biology at UCLA, where he has taught introductory biology in large lectures for majors and nonmajors for twelve years. He received his PhD in evolutionary biology from Harvard in 1995, and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Yale and UCLA. His primary area of research is evolutionary genetics, and his original research has been published in Evolution, Experimental Gerontology, and the Journal of Integrative and Comparative Biology, among others. His research has been featured on Nightline, CNN, the BBC, and NPR; in Science Times and Elle; and in more than a hundred newspapers. He is the recipient of more than a dozen teaching awards. With Terry Burnham, Jay is the coauthor of the international best-seller Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food—Taming Our Primal Instincts. Written for the general reader, Mean Genes explains in simple terms how knowledge of the genetic basis of human nature can empower individuals to lead more satisfying lives. Writing for a nonscientific audience has honed Phelan’s writing style to one that is casual and inviting to students but also scientifically precise.

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Jay Phelan

Jay Phelan teaches biology at UCLA, where he has taught introductory biology in large lectures for majors and non-majors for twelve years. He received his Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Harvard in 1995, and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Yale and UCLA. His primary area of research is evolutionary genetics, and his original research has been published in Evolution, Experimental Gerontology, and the Journal of Integrative and Comparative Biology, among others. His research has been featured on Nightline, CNN, the BBC, and National Public Radio; in Science Times and Elle; and in more than a hundred newspapers. He is the recipient of more than a dozen teaching awards. With Terry Burnham, Jay is the co-author of the international best-seller Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food—Taming Our Primal Instincts. Written for the general reader, Mean Genes explains in simple terms how knowledge of the genetic basis of human nature can empower individuals to lead more satisfying lives. Writing for a non-scientific audience has honed Jay’s writing style to one that is casual and inviting to students, but also scientifically precise.

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Benjamin A. Pierce

Benjamin Pierce received a B.S. in Biology from Southern Methodist University and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. Ben is currently Professor of Biology and holder of the Lillian Nelson Pratt Chair at Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX. He is a population geneticist who conducts ecological and evolutionary research on amphibians. Ben has authored a number of articles in research journals and several books, including: The Family Genetics Sourcebook, a guide to genetics for the layperson; Genetics: A Conceptual Approach, a general genetics textbook; Genetics Essentials: Concepts and Connections, a brief genetics textbook; and Transmission and Population Genetics: A Short Course, a textbook for courses in transmission and population genetics. Ben is a member of the steering committee of the 21st Century Science Coalition, a group of scientists who support strong science standards for Texas public schools. He is the President of the Texas Academy of Science, is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, and is a Fellow of the Texas Academy of Science. He currently serves on the editorial board of Bioscience. He has received research and teaching grants from the Natural Science Foundation, the W. M. Keck Foundation, the 3M Foundation, the National Park Service, the Williamson County Conservation Foundation, and the National Geographic Society.

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Naomi Pierce

Naomi Pierce is the Hessel Professor of Biology in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, and Curator of Lepidoptera in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. She teaches and studies animal behavior and behavioral ecology. Her lab focuses on the ecology of species interactions, such as insect-host plant associations, and on the life history evolution and systematics of Lepidoptera. She has also been involved in reconstructing the evolutionary “tree of life” of insects such as ants, bees, butterflies.

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Hidde Ploegh

Hidde Ploegh is Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. One of the world’s leading researchers in immune system behavior, Dr. Ploegh studies the various tactics that viruses employ to evade our immune responses, and the ways in which our immune system distinguishes friend from foe. Dr. Ploegh teaches immunology to undergraduate students at Harvard University and MIT.

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Mary V. Price

Mary V. Price is Professor of Biology, Emerita, at the University of California, Riverside and Adjunct Professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona. In “retirement,” she continues to teach and study, having learned the joy and art of scientific discovery as an undergraduate student at Vassar College and doctoral student at the University of Arizona. Dr. Price has mentored and published with independent-research students and has developed and taught general biology and ecology courses from introductory (majors and nonmajors) to graduate levels. She has particularly enjoyed leading field classes in the arid regions of North America and Australia, and the tropical forests of Central America, Africa, and Madagascar. Dr. Price’s research focuses on understanding the ecology of North American deserts and mountains. She has asked why so many desert rodents can coexist, how best to conserve endangered kangaroo rat species, how pollinators and herbivores influence floral evolution and plant population dynamics, and how climate change affects ecological systems.

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James R. Morris

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Richard M. Myers

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David L. Nelson

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Michael O'Donnell

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Gordon H. Orians

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Barbara A. Osborne

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Judy Owen

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Joy Perry

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Christine Pfund

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Jay Phelan

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Jay Phelan

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Benjamin A. Pierce

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Naomi Pierce

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Hidde Ploegh

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Mary V. Price

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