Biology

Peter J. Russell received a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Sussex, England, in 1968 and a Ph.D. in Genetics from Cornell University in 1972. He has been a member of the Biology faculty of Reed College since 1972 and is currently a Professor of Biology, Emeritus. Peter taught a section of the introductory biology course, a genetics course, and a research literature course on molecular virology. In 1987 he received the Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award from Reed College in recognition of his excellence in teaching, He is the author of iGENETICS: A MOLECULAR, APPROACH, a successful genetics textbook. Peter's research was in the area of molecular genetics, with a specific interest in characterizing the role of host genes in the replication of the RNA genome of a pathogenic plant virus, and the expression of the genes of the virus; yeast was used as the model host. His research has been funded by agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the Department of Defense, the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon, and the Murdoch Foundation. He has published his research results in a variety of journals, including GENETICS, JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, MOLECULAR AND GENERAL GENETICS, NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH, PLASMID, and MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY. Peter has a long history of encouraging faculty research involving undergraduates, including cofounding the biology division of the Council on Undergraduate Research in 1985. He was Principal Investigator/Program Director of a National Science Foundation Award for the Integration of Research and Education (NSF-AIRE) to Reed College, 1998 to 2002. Paul E. Hertz was born and raised in New York City. He received a B.S. in Biology from Stanford University in 1972, an A.M. in Biology from Harvard University in 1973, and a Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University in 1977. While completing field research for the doctorate, he served on the Biology faculty of the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. After two years as an Isaac Walton Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at Dalhousie University, Paul accepted a teaching position at Barnard College, where he has taught since 1979. He was named Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Biology in 2000, received The Barnard Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2007, and was named Claire Tow Professor of Biology in 2016. In addition to serving on numerous college committees, Paul chaired Barnard's Biology Department for eight years and served as Acting Provost and Dean of the Faculty from 2011 to 2012. He was the founding Program Director of the Hughes Science Pipeline Project at Barnard, an undergraduate curriculum and research program that was funded continuously by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1992 until 2016. The Pipeline Project included the Intercollegiate Partnership, a program for local community college students that facilitated their transfer to four-year colleges and universities. He teaches one semester of the introductory sequence for Biology majors and pre-professional students, lecture and laboratory courses in vertebrate zoology and ecology, and seminars that introduce first-year students to scientific research. Paul is an animal physiological ecologist with a specific research interest in the thermal biology of lizards. He has conducted fieldwork in the West Indies since the mid-1970s, focusing on the lizards of Cuba and Puerto Rico. His work has been funded by the NSF, and he has published his research in THE AMERICAN NATURALIST, ECOLOGY, NATURE, OECOLOGIA, and PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. Beverly McMillan holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked extensively in educational and commercial publishing as an author, science writer, project manager, and multimedia content developer. In addition to her contributions to college textbooks, Beverly has written or coauthored multiple popular books on topics in natural history and human health and biology, as well as field guides to the flora and fauna of more than 20 US states. She has also created Web and print content for such clients as the US National Park Service, the Science Museum of Virginia, The Mariners' Museum, the San Francisco Exploratorium, the University of California system, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science/College of William and Mary.