HM Achieve for Principles of Life Digital Update (1-Term Online) Saint Louis University

David M. Hillis is the Alfred W. Roark Centennial Professor in Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also has directed the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, the Biodiversity Center, and the School of Biological Sciences. Dr. Hillis has taught courses in introductory biology, genetics, evolution, systematics, and biodiversity. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, and has served as President of the Society for the Study of Evolution and of the Society of Systematic Biologists. He served on the National Research Council committee that wrote the report BIO 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Biology Education for Research Biologists, and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Academies Scientific Teaching Alliance.

Richard W. Hill is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at Michigan State University and a frequent Guest Investigator at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He is the senior author of the leading textbook on animal physiology. Among the awards he has received are the Outstanding Faculty Award, Meritorious Faculty Award, and election as Fellow of the AAAS. His research interests include: temperature regulation and energetics in birds and mammals, especially neonates; and environmental physiology of marine tertiary sulfonium and quaternary ammonium compounds.

David W. Hall taught a variety of classes at Wake Forest University, the University of Texas, and the University of Georgia during his academic career. He especially enjoyed teaching introductory biology and genetics to undergraduates and received several teaching awards for his efforts in the classroom. Ever since high school, he has been captivated by the living world but was initially overwhelmed by the enormous diversity of life. However, he soon realized that there are fundamental principles that unite all organisms, which greatly facilitates the study of biology. Helping students learn these principles was the foundation of his biological teaching.

Marta J. Laskowski is a Professor in the Biology Department at Oberlin College. Dr. Laskowski has mentored undergraduate students in research and has taught introductory biology, skills-based first year seminars (Feeding the World), plant physiology, and plant development. She heads an effort at Oberlin, funded by the HHMI Inclusive Excellence program, to enhance the climate for and success of a diverse student population in STEM. One of her numerous journal articles resulted in a Guinness World Record for the fastest opening flower (Cornus canadensis; bunchberry). A college class in developmental biology so captivated her that she decided to focus her research on discovering the intricate sub-cellular interactions that establish the plant root system.