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. Joel H. Benington received his BA from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1985 and his PhD in biology from Stanford University in 1992. He performed postdoctoral research at the University of Los Angeles and Stanford University until 1996. Since then, he has been a member of the Biology faculty of St. Bonaventure University, where he is currently Professor of Biology and Director of the Bioinformatics and Health and Society programs. He has twice served as Chair of the Department of Biology. During his entire time at St. Bonaventure University, he has taught one or both semesters of the general biology sequence for first-year life science majors. He also teaches upper-level Neurobiology, Genomics, and Evolution courses and has led a variety of seminar courses in the university’s Honors Program. He has published his research in journals such as Progress in Neurobiology, Brain Research, The American Journal of Physiology, and The Scientist. In addition to laboratory research, he has published hypotheses concerning the role of sleep in brain energy metabolism, the functional relationship between REM sleep and non-REM sleep, and connections between sleep and learning. Joel’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, and he has served as Principal Investigator of a National Grid grant to support K–12 STEM education in Cattaraugus County, New York. 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.
