Scholarship and Biography
I have broad interests in genetics, epigenetics, evolution, medicine, and history of science. I teach a wide range of classes for majors and non-majors, including introductory biology, evolution, comparative vertebrate anatomy, project laboratory in genetics and genomics, epigenetics, and a first-year seminar focusing on Darwin's On the Origin of Species. My research focuses on epigenetics, and I use the fruit fly as a model organism. I pursue this research with undergraduates to give them the opportunity to do genuine, laboratory-based research. I am particularly interested in biology education and the public understanding of science. I am a lead author on a college-level introductory biology textbook titled Biology: How Life Works. I am also a reader for the AP® Biology exam and an author of Biology for the AP® Course. I received a PhD in genetics from Harvard University and an MD from Harvard Medical School. I was a Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University and a National Academies Education Fellow and Mentor in the Life Sciences.