DIZ: 1998 Spring Newsleter

---

This Newsletter by Section

• Message from the Chair
  
• Message from the Program Officer
  
• Message from the Secretary
  
• 1999 Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship
  
• 1998 Libbie H. Hyman Scholarship Recipient Report
  
• Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Committee Report
  
• Dorothy M. Skinner: A Famous Invertebrate Zoologist
  

  ---

  Message from the Chair

  Daphne Fautin

  It is that time of year again. Now that classes are well underway, thoughts turn to the end-of-year break and our annual festivities - by which, of course, I do not mean Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's Eve and other such merriment. It is time to make your plans to migrate to Colorado for the 1999 SICB Annual Meeting in Denver, Jan. 6-10. The Division of Invertebrate Zoology is cosponsoring a symposium on starfish, as well as a tribute to one of our own, Alan Kohn, current president of SICB.

  Thanks is extended to the 104 of you who responded to the e-mail questionnaire on teaching invertebrate zoology in the colleges and universities of North America. Many of you expressed interest in the results. I include some of the more philosophical responses here, as part of an overview of the state of our science as revealed by the survey. I hope other results will soon appear in the pages of American Zoologist. Further, in the next newsletter I shall compare the results of this survey with those from one conducted nearly 10 years ago by Rachel Merz and Jan Pechenik, done to gather data for a DIZ symposium on teaching.

  It is impossible to determine whether those who teach IZ were more likely to respond to the survey than those who do not. I regard as good news the fact that only 24 of the 104 responded that invertebrate zoology is not taught at their school. At four of these schools, a course in IZ is listed in the catalog, but there is no hope of it being taught. Respondents at two or three of the 10 schools in which IZ has not been taught for several years thought the course might be revived, and at two of the 10 schools in which IZ has never been taught (within memory, that is) the respondent planned to begin a course within two to three years! There is, however, a definite net loss in the number of courses.

  My database of invertebrate zoology courses currently being offered has 101 entries, from 83 respondents, with data on 92 courses at 74 schools (there was more than one respondent for some courses, and some respondents provided data on more than one course). I figure that the basic courses listed are exposing 1,500 students a year to the wonderful world of invertebrates, and another 100 are taking advanced course work in the subject (although for courses taught only every second or third year, I could not always determine whether the number of students was per year or per offering).

  In addition to these quantitative results, many of you included perceptive comments on the state of teaching invertebrate zoology. Therefore, the rest of this message is by you, with me weaving your comments into a narrative that I hope will provoke discussion.

  Invertebrate zoology courses have recently been discontinued at numerous institutions for a variety of reasons. One is retirement: "[We] no longer [have] a dedicated invertebrate zoology course. This has been the case since my retirement..." And, you anticipate this trend continuing: "I believe that after I retire in 6-10 years, the invertebrate zoology course will no longer be taught at my institution. It is ironic that ... having [an] invertebrate course has been an advantage to students seeking jobs in environmental biology and environmental management."

  Even where active invertebrate zoologists are employed, there may be a lack of interest in IZ on the part of both students and other faculty members, as described by this member: "The department has been moving in the direction of 'organismal biology' and 'animal diversity' rather than having an explicit 'invertebrate zoology' course... [T]his is an extremely vertebrocentric institution - lots of pre-vet/med/dent, animal science, poultry science, fishery science, and the usual 'animals are just vehicles for interesting molecules' types... There's just hardly anyone around who cares a fig for inverts!" At several institutions where it is still offered, invertebrate zoology "…is best described as 'threatened.' At present, I am the only person [here] willing/able to teach inverts and am under considerable pressure to devote my teaching talents to other (introductory-level) courses." In another school, "[The] fate of the course is up in the air. It was not taught this past academic year, and to my knowledge, there is no current plan to regularize teaching the course and no designated faculty to teach it."

  The theme of the economics of higher education was sounded by several of you. "I taught invertebrate zoology for many years [but ultimately] opted to teach general zoology...a choice that allowed me to generate more teaching credit hours because of much larger enrollments and to reach a broader audience with information about inverts, albeit at a lower level of coverage. Because of the pressure for generating credit hours and training grad students, invertebrate zoology now regrettably has a low priority in our department" and "The course is supposed to be offered every other year, but my own administrative responsibilities and the small enrollments mean it is the first of my courses to be sacrificed." Someone else pessimistically wrote, "I really love teaching this course. It is a bear in terms of preparation in getting reading lists together. The students come out of this raring to get on with their own research... A large majority goes on to graduate training. With staff reductions and increased teaching assignments, this course may never again see the light of day."

  The calculus that has changed small classes from assets to liabilities is compounded by the burgeoning in biological knowledge, which means students have more choices in courses. A potential consequence was charmingly (and frighteningly) expressed by one member: "Time and student interest are certainly waning, perhaps due to all of the other classes they are faced with and the larger number of optional courses. We have moved away from a broad set of required courses to allow more flexibility. This may have its repercussions shortly when few students know a ctenophore from a chaetognath." However, more student choice can result in new invertebrate courses as well: "[IZ] may be offered in the future as a specialized upper division course when our new major in environmental science acquires enough students to allow us to expand our curricular electives."

  Where they remain, most IZ courses are a semester in duration (59 of 73 general invert courses for which sufficient data were provided), whereas "The [general IZ] course used to be a full-year required course but this was whittled away by needed reallocation of teaching staff" (only four of you reported year-long courses in invertebrate zoology). And, of course, information is increasing in our field, too: "I find it increasingly difficult to offer a survey course in invertebrate zoology in one semester and cover even the major phyla. I feel obligated (and interested) in presenting some of the exciting new discoveries from molecular biology and to evaluate the molecular phylogenies in light of traditional metazoan phylogeny. This, however, takes time and that means that something gets left out. Frustrating!" Despite the gloominess of this picture, student interest in our science is clearly evident. Some of you reported courses with enrollments as high as 50! At one school "The course capped at 30 because of limitations in the lab and only one teaching assistant. More than two times that many tried to register..." and elsewhere "Presently [the course is taught] only in the fall semester. Starting next year (1999-2000) we will offer invertebrate zoology fall and spring semesters due to increased demand." Even with demand, the outlook may not be rosy: "... an invertebrate zoologist [was not hired] to replace [me]. However, the course was too large and popular to drop so they have hired a lecturer to teach it. [But he may soon decide to] go full time into research. My bet is that would lower the curtain on invertebrate zoology at [this school]."

  It goes without saying that there is interest in our science from all of you. Many of us who are teaching IZ, and plan to continue to do so, have ideas for others and seek ideas from others. Here are some thoughts to get you started.

  "Including [live] marine things is really important for student interest!" "I try to direct their reading toward popular readings on invertebrates (Scientific American, Natural History, Smithsonian, New York Times) to convince them that there might be a good reason to study these groups." The following could have been written by several of you: "My course includes...field trips to the coast and...to the mountains to hunt for invertebrate fossils and terrestrial invertebrates."

  Some of you expressed concern about the quality of the education you are able to impart: "This is a small liberal arts school. I teach [several courses in addition to] invert... It is a real 'sell' to get kids to take this course, but it has run every time it has been offered. Reading appears to be a low priority with them; they would rather have pictures on the Internet. At times I feel the depth is no more than they would have had 40 years ago in a good survey course, but now our general biology class does not do the survey justice because there is so much more to teach." Others offered solutions: "Students are required to read recent and classic journal literature about inverts, primarily evolution and molecular systematics papers (five or six per semester). Grad students are required to lead the class in critical discussion of papers I select and are graded (P/F) on their performance. Students are given a 'pop quiz' if it becomes apparent during the discussion that some didn't do the reading."

  At least one respondent "...participated in the division's discussion on teaching invertebrate zoology at ASZ about seven years ago. I found that exciting and helpful to share ideas." Come to Denver (and Atlanta, Jan. 4-8, 2000, and Chicago, Jan. 3-7, 2001) to exchange thoughts on this important matter. Damhnait McHugh, DIZ program officer, looks forward to receiving proposals for more symposia on teaching and related matters. Maybe we need to consider teaching not just our students but our colleagues as well.

  ---

  Message from the Program Officer

  Damhnait McHugh

  I hope that you can all attend the 1999 SICB Annual Meeting in Denver, Jan. 6-10, and I am looking forward to meeting many of you there. In addition to scheduling divisional and interdivisional sessions for the contributed papers and posters, we are also busy planning for a DIZ-sponsored symposium titled "Evolution of Starfishes: Morphology, Molecules, Development and Paleobiology," organized by Daniel Janies and Daniel Blake. This symposium will bring together biologists from North America and Europe who use diverse approaches to studying echinoderm phylogeny and will have a deep impact on our understanding of the evolution of asteroids.

  The Denver meeting will include a special contributed paper session honoring Alan J. Kohn on the occasion of his retirement. The session, entitled "Excellence in Invertebrate Biology: A Tribute to Alan J. Kohn," is being organized by Dianna Padilla and Bruno Pernet and will feature talks by Kohn students and colleagues on the biology, ecology and evolution of diverse marine invertebrates, as well as on methods of teaching invertebrate biology.

  As usual, I encourage all of you to consider the possibility of developing a symposium, workshop or special contributed-paper session for upcoming meetings in Atlanta (Jan. 4-8, 2000) or Chicago (Jan. 3-7, 2001). Feel free to contact me by e-mail or to collar me in Denver to discuss your thoughts and ideas on future symposia and workshops and to let me know of any program changes that you would like to see at future meetings. You should be aware that plans are underway to reorganize the scheduling of papers and posters at future meetings, with the goal of achieving more cohesive sessions and reducing conflicts in the program. The main change will be to sort and schedule abstracts by topic, not division. Each program officer will be responsible for scheduling sessions for topics that best represent their division, and divisional program officers will confer with each other as needed for each session. I will have the opportunity to represent your views at the meeting of all the divisional program officers and to the Program Advisory Committee in Denver, so please send me any comments that you have on these plans.

  ---

  Message from the Secretary

  Susie Balser

  On behalf of the division, I congratulate Kai-jung Chi for being awarded the Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship. From her report, we can be assured that her experience at Friday Harbor Laboratories was a productive and memorable.

  Our sincere thanks are extended to Linda Mantel for her contribution to the Great Invertebrate Zoologist series. Any and all others interested in highlighting the career of a favorite invertebrate biologist should send ideas or talk to me at the meeting in Denver. SICB and DIZ business meetings are excellent venues to learn about the most recent activities of the Society and the division. Members are encouraged to attend and participate. Students are especially welcome.

  ---

  1999 Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship

  Gordon Hendler, Libbie H. Hyman Scholarship Committee Chair

  This scholarship, in memory of Libbie H. Hyman, one of America's foremost invertebrate zoologists, provides assistance to students to take courses or to pursue research on invertebrates at a marine, freshwater or terrestrial field station. The amount of the 1999 award is approximately $700. The Hyman grant is intended to help support a first field station experience for a first or second year graduate student or an advanced undergraduate.

  Completed applications must include:

  1. Application form
  2. Two letters of recommendation from faculty members
  3. Transcripts of both undergraduate and (if applicable) graduate course work.

  Deadline: March 8, 1999
  Notification of Awards: April 5, 1999

  Application forms and further information are available from: Dr. Gordon Hendler, Chair, SICB Libbie Hyman Scholarship Committee, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007; FAX: 213/746-2999; E-mail: hendler@nhm.org

  ---

  1998 Libbie H. Hyman Scholarship Recipient Report

  Kai-jung Chi

  The Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship Committee unanimously selected Kai-jung Chi, currently a second year graduate student at Duke University, as the 1998 award recipient. Ms. Chi received a check for $700 to help defray the cost of enrolling in the Marine Invertebrate Zoology course at Friday Harbor Laboratories of the University of Washington, and to help support her first field work on invertebrates, which she carried out in the San Juan Archipelago. DIZ also provided her with an SICB gift membership, which includes a subscription to American Zoologist, and a gift membership to the American Microscopical Society, which includes a subscription to Invertebrate Biology. An account of Chi's field station experience is below.

  Funding through the Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship and a fellowship offered by Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL) of the University of Washington led my first steps into the world of marine invertebrates. The Marine Invertebrate Zoology course that I took at FHL was a wonderful exploration of the marine invertebrates around San Juan Archipelago. Lectures given by George Shinn and Louise Page offered me a "big picture" understanding of the evolutionary relationships of the invertebrate phyla based on a comparative study of morphology, development and molecular biology. Additionally, field work and laboratory observations greatly enhanced my appreciation for the diversity of life and how marine invertebrates deal with their environment.

  What amazed me most was the interstitial fauna collected at Argyle Lagoon on San Juan Island. I found that a handful of sediment might be occupied by meiofauna of great diversity including turbellarians, gastropods, annelids, nematodes, crustaceans and more. Knowing that each group possessed a different mode of locomotion, I wondered what life in the interstitial world is really like? During the class, we were encouraged to examine questions about organisms and even to propose alternative interpretations of the function or adaptive significance of various structures. Such an open atmosphere motivated me to think about and to research new ideas which, along with discussions with faculty and students, broadened my range of research possibilities. Some of the questions concerning locomotion raised during the course have become primary ideas for my dissertation project.

  While observing various modes of locomotion, I became interested in "ciliary gliding," a type of locomotion in which the animal is propelled on a secreted layer of mucus by beating its cilia. Different from ciliary swimming, animals that move by ciliary gliding are always bound to the substratum by mucus. According to my observation during this course, ciliary gliding is characteristic of many small soft-bodied invertebrates such as turbellarians and nemerteans. Larger animals, such as gastropods also use it. Planula larvae of many invertebrates also move about by ciliary gliding. In filter feeding organisms, such as lophophorates and bivalves, similar principles of muco-ciliary locomotion (of particles) are employed. Terebellid polychaetes extend their long, slender tentacles by ciliary gliding and convey food trapped in mucus to the mouth.

  Primary questions arising from my observation are: 1) What are the mechanisms involved in muco-ciliary locomotion in turbellarians? and 2) What are the composition and mechanical properties of mucus that facilitate this mode of movement? Mucus, which provides adhesion to both surfaces of the animal and substratum, functions as the medium of ciliary beating. Variations in mucus composition or viscosity could have profound affects on ciliary gliding. This line of research may be applicable to other areas of biology. For example, could we learn something about the ciliary movement of mucus in the human respiratory tract from research on turbellarians? Do cilia moving water differ from that moving mucus in terms of their morphology and beat sequences? In larger turbellarians, muscular contraction supplements their locomotion. What is the body size limit of the animal to achieve its movement only by ciliary gliding?

  I thank SICB and the Libbie Hyman Scholarship Committee for providing financial support for this course; Friday Harbor Laboratories for offering me a fellowship and for providing a wonderful invertebrate course; Dr. George Shinn and Dr. Louise Page for their advice and enthusiasm and for creating such an excellent learning atmosphere; and Dr. Stephen A. Wainwright for his welcomed discussions and advice.

  ---

  Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Committee Report

  Shea Tuberty, DIZ Representative to the Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Committee

  Having just completed my graduate studies (and as I enter the postdoc phase of my career), I am personally aware of the discouragement of the scientific job search. I, like many of my colleagues on campus, realize that very few in our position finish our graduate work with their "ideal" next career move well in hand. Aren't we allowed to think that after eight or more years of higher education that jobs would be falling in our laps! This may have been the case for invertebrate zoologists two decades ago, but is now only a nostalgic recollection in our current reality. Although, given the present market, the ideal job may seem like a far away dream, but good planning and persistent efforts greatly increase the probability of employment in your chosen career. Along these lines, I offer here a few suggestions that might make your search a little less aggravating.

  The "job search" actually begins long before graduate work is completed, and preparations to engage employment in the scientific field can never begin early enough. I have always been told that the best jobs are passed around by word of mouth and by networking with your scientific peers. I have found this true to some degree. By introducing yourself and by e-mail or writing to well-known professionals in your field, you may get several leads towards open positions. This technique is aided by practiced social skills and a mind open to possibilities. Graduate students can improve the odds of landing a job by diversifying and honing their scientific skills, presenting work at meetings, timely publication of research, and applying for grants to establish a funding record.

  Many sources of postdoc and graduate student positions are listed on the web, which provides rapid access to the most recent postings. SICB, and many other scientific organizations, have job listings on their home pages. Depending on the organization (local or national) the listings can be few or many. Science professional network has a home page (http://recruit.sciencemag.org) which allows one to subscribe free of charge and receive weekly e-mailings with up-to-date job alerts. The site also supports a number of links to the pharmaceutical industry, positions in education and NIH. A site created by Geoff Davis (www.phds.org) may be one of the best sites for anyone in science, math or engineering. It covers everything you may want to know from professor salaries at universities and colleges to an explanation of why you are having to look so hard for a job! This site contains information useful for anyone interested in science from the level of high school educator to full professor. Peter Fiske, Ph.D., author of the book "To Boldly Go: A Practical Career Guide for Scientists," has an excellent site (www.agu.org/careerguide) which lists many links to job search engines including the American Association for the Advancement of Science site (www.aaas.org). From here you can get to Science's Next Wave (www.nextwave.org), which caters to newly emerging scientists.

  If you are interested in a governmental agency position, there are two sites to visit. First, USAJOBS (www.usajobs.opm.gov) has listing of open jobs that change with great frequency. You can often send an electronic application and, if you need a hard copy of a special application form, visit www.fedworld.gov. This site also has job listings in addition to a search engine that can find you any government application form you may need and allow you to download, print and submit it long before the expiration date.

  The job boards at meetings are another obvious place to look for positions and are great because the person posting a notice is likely to be available for an immediate interview. In addition to the Career Opportunities Program, I encourage graduate students and postdocs to take advantage of the SICB student workshop in Denver. These workshops are designed to broaden your horizons and strengthen your skills in areas of education, research and career planning.

  As I'm sure you realize by now, there are many free resources available for career planning and advice. But, in the end, finding the "right job" involves a lot of time and effort on your part. So keep your chin up, keep your modem on, and go out there and find a job to keep you in the style to which you have grown accustomed!

  ---

  Dorothy M. Skinner: A Famous Invertebrate Zoologist

  Linda H. Mantel

  As many of you know, DIZ was a cosponsor last January of "The Complete Crustacean Biologist: A Symposium Recognizing the Achievements of Dorothy M. Skinner," organized by Don Mykles and myself. Proceedings of the symposium will be published in American Zoologist early next year. In my introduction to the symposium, I discuss Dorothy's work and its relationship to that of the participants. The purpose of this article is to provide additional information on Dorothy's career and influence and to further reveal her as an outstanding mentor and role model who has had an enormous positive impact on her numerous students and postdoctoral fellows, as well as on crustacean research in general.

  The study of crustaceans has historically been attractive to women. Although many of the early women carcinologists worked as assistants to their husbands or fathers, often receiving little or no pay, by early in this century a number of women had developed substantial professional reputations in crustacean biology. These include Mary J. Rathbun, who described several hundred species of crabs from collections all over the world, and Isabella Gordon, who was referred to even in her own time as the "Grand Old Lady of Carcinology." Jocelyn Crane, who actually started out working on butterflies, published her landmark tome titled "Fiddler Crabs of the World" in 1975 as the culmination of over 10 years of field work on distribution, ecology and behavior of these animals. In keeping with this tradition of excellence, current progress in the fields of research encompassing crustacean physiology, endocrinology, biochemistry, systematics, ecology and behavior owes much to the contributions of Dorothy Skinner and other women scientists - many of whom, of course, are or have been members of DIZ! Dorothy Skinner, who retired last year from her position as a senior staff scientist in the biology division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is an outstanding representative of the current group of "crab-ladies." She was born in Newton, Mass. and attended high school there. Dorothy was an undergraduate at Jackson College of Tufts University and received a degree in both biology and chemistry. This combination was instrumental in allowing her to pursue research involving both of these areas throughout her career. Having regularly spent summers in Wellfleet on Cape Cod as a child, Dorothy loved the ocean and eagerly accepted the suggestion that she take summer courses at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass. After taking a course in experimental invertebrate zoology, she spent the following two summers as a teaching assistant for the course, working the first year with Lew Kleinholz and the second with Ted Bullock. In 1971, she returned to Woods Hole to be an instructor in the course.

  Among the early influences on her interest in science, Dorothy notes particular encouragement from her high school physics teacher; from the dean of women at Tufts, Edith Bush; and from Kenneth Roeder, a noted entomologist, who was one of her undergraduate advisors at Tufts. Dorothy had planned on applying to medical school, however, the night before she was to take the MCAT, she changed her mind and decided to work for a year or two and then go to graduate school. So, she worked as Assistant Director of Admissions at Jackson College for two years, and then became a graduate student in the laboratory of John Welsh at Harvard. A number of other women who became well-known invertebrate physiologists were in his laboratory at that time, including Betty Twarog, Nancy Milburn, and two additional Dorothys - Dorothy Bliss and Dorothy Travis. All three Dorothys became famous in the field of crustacean physiology, both through their own research and that of their academic children and in-laws.

  Much of Dorothy Skinner's work has focused on the physiology of molting. Her dissertation research, published in 1962, produced a classic paper on the structure and metabolism of the integument of the Bermuda land crab, Gecarcinus lateralis, during various stages of the intermolt cycle. After completing her dissertation in 1958, Dorothy was awarded two postdoctoral fellowships in biochemistry, one each at Yale and Brandeis. In 1962, she was hired as an assistant professor of physiology and biophysics at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, where she spent the next four years. I was introduced to Dorothy and her work in 1965, while I was a postdoctoral fellow at The American Museum of Natural History, where I was working with Dorothy Bliss on salt and water balance in G. lateralis. I was developing an in vitro preparation of the gut of this land crab and needed to determine the composition for an appropriate physiological salt solution. Fortunately, Dorothy Skinner had just completed that very project and published a very helpful paper, which saved me a great deal of time and effort in my own work. I went to meet Dorothy in person at NYU to thank her for her help, a timely decision for me, since shortly thereafter she and her husband John Cook, a cell biologist whom she had met at NYU, left New York for Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

  At Oak Ridge, Dorothy started as a Fellow of the Institute of Nuclear Studies. She then moved to the biology division, where she began as a staff scientist, progressed to senior staff scientist and eventually group leader for Growth and Regeneration and for Genome Organization. There were obstacles to be surmounted, especially during the early years, because the culture of the laboratory was not overly welcoming to women. Routine requests from women scientists, such as access to technicians and graduate students, were not routinely granted. Dorothy overcame these and other obstacles to advancement by hard work (12 hours a day or more) and by refusing to take no for an answer - she looked for, and often found, alternative routes to get what she needed. For instance, when told she could not have graduate students through the University of Tennessee, she arranged to become an adjunct at East Tennessee University. Dorothy had the opportunity at Oak Ridge to mentor a number of doctoral students, including Dale Graham, Christie Holland, Nelwyn Christie and Richard Fowler. In addition, her numerous postdoctoral fellows (including Marilyn Kerr, Larry Yamaoka, Sindhu Kumari, Jack O'Brien and Don Mykles) are well known to the DIZ community through their publications and presentations at meetings.

  All told, Dorothy Skinner has published almost 90 articles during her career, and her scientific contributions have been recognized by many professional organizations. She received the Career Recognition Award from Women in Cell Biology of the American Society of Cell Biology in 1987 and a Technical Achievement Award from Martin Marietta Energy Systems in 1990. The Crustacean Society, on whose Board of Governors she served for many years, honored her with their Award for Excellence in Research in 1993. She has been a Sigma Xi National Lecturer and has served on the editorial boards of Biological Bulletin, Growth, Gene and Physiological Zoology. Finally, Tufts University, her alma mater, gave her a scholar-athlete award in 1993 (basketball was her game), followed by a Distinguished Alumna Award in 1994.

  In addition to her research contributions, Dorothy Skinner has been an advocate for the progress of women in science. She was one of the "founding mothers" of the East Tennessee Chapter (ETC) of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS ) in 1983. During 1979, she was also president of the local chapter of the National Organization of Women and, through this organization, she worked to promote ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. She joined the Board of Directors of National AWIS in 1992 as chair of the Membership Committee, a position she still holds, and was elected to the position of AWIS Councilor in 1997. The East Tennessee Chapter of AWIS granted Dorothy their award for Distinguished and Sustained Contributions to Science in 1986, while National AWIS honored her for distinguished contributions in 1994 and named her a Charter Fellow in 1996.

  Dorothy has been a mentor for more than 20 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, of which over half were women. However, her influence extends well beyond her students to the community at large. She has been a strong supporter of beginning researchers and has always been generous with her time, wisdom and advice for colleagues old and young. Although she has officially retired, she remains an inspiration to all of us.

  This article has been modified and shortened from its original appearance in AWIS magazine (Summer 1998, Vol. 27, No. 3). Reprinted with permission by the Association for Women in Science (www.awis.org).

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
1313 Dolley Madison Blvd Suite 402
McLean VA 22101
Phone: 703-790-1745 or 800-955-1236
FAX: 703-790-2672
E-mail: SICB@BurkInc.com