Thomas L. Rost is a professor of plant biology at the University of California, Davis and is currently the Executive Associate Dean there in the Division of Biological Sciences. He received his B.S. in biology from St. John's University, his M.A. in biology from Mankato State University, and his Ph.D. in botany from Iowa State University. He has taught developmental plant anatomy for almost 30 years. His primary research interests include the structure and development of roots in vascular plants and structural aspects of Pierce's disease in grape vines. Michael Barbour is a plant ecologist in the Environmental Horticulture Department at the University of California, Davis. His research blends ecophysiology, population biology, and vegetation science. His current research projects include a state-wide survey of vernal pool vegetation in California for conservation purposes, a search for vegetation and soil traits that define "old-growth" status for montane mixed conifer forest and a continuum of values for those traits that correlate with successional distance from old-growth status, and a reconstruction of pre-contact old-growth Californian mixed conifer forest. These projects have been supported by the USDA Forest Service, the National Science Foundation, the Packard Foundation, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the California Department of Transportation. Terence Murphy is a professor of plant biology at the University of California, Davis. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in cell biology, and has taught courses in introductory biology, plant physiology, and plant molecular biology. His research areas include the effects of stress on plant cells, particularly on DNA, membrane transport, and oxygen metabolism. Terence Murphy has over 30 years of experience teaching introductory biology courses. Ralph Stocking received his degrees in plant nutrition and plant physiology from University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Davis. His research background concerns water relations of plants, photosynthesis, and chloroplast structure and development, on which subjects he has published over 80 scientific papers. He has also been a coauthor of nine editions of the UC Davis series of botany/plant biology books.
