Spring 2023 Issue
Biologist Jonathan Losos, the William H. Danforth Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and director of the Living Earth Collaborative, is teaching a new course at WashU that takes advantage of this interest, encouraging biology majors to get to know one of the most popular pets in America. “I think one of the appeals to people of having a cat is that it’s your own little piece of the wild,” Losos said. “You’ve got a mini-lion in your house. Cats are not that much changed from their wild ancestors.”
A new study in iScience led by Yehuda Ben-Shahar at Washington University in St. Louis identifies a link between the genetic instructions for the production and perception of sex pheromones. The research was conducted in collaboration with Jocelyn Millar from the University of California, Riverside.
Commencement 2023 is upon us! As we near the end of the school year, we are excited to announce our undergraduate biology award winners. Prizes were awarded to the following graduating seniors: the Spector Prize to Larissa Rays Wahba and Xiyun Zhang, the Quatrano Prize to Julian Ginzburg Abt, and the Stalker Prize to Maya Tsingos and Sindhuri Ivaturi.
We also established the Professor Garland Allen Prize after our long-time friend and colleague Gar Allen passed away this winter. Thanks to generous donations, we are able to announce our first winner of the prize: Miriam Silberman. To support future graduating senior biology majors who are making an impact in diversity, equity, and inclusion, please use this online form and enter the designation: “Biology - In Memory of Gar Allen”.
Congratulations to all the winners and the class of 2023. We wish them well as they leave WashU and embark on their careers.
We have a lot to celebrate this year, including four faculty member promotions: Hani Zaher, from associate to full professor; Josh Blodgett, from assistant to associate professor; April Bednarski, from senior lecturer to teaching professor; and Kate Hanes, from lecturer to senior lecturer. We could not be more thrilled that Professor Emerita Ursula Goodenough was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
We are also celebrating several staff members on their length of service milestones, including Dianne Duncan and Mike Dyer, who have been with our department for forty years!
And finally, the department is changing and growing. Professor Ram Dixit will be the new chair of the Department of Biology starting in July 2023. Ben Mansfeld and Kevin Cox from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will be joining the Biology faculty starting this summer. Tony Smith, who is currently an Assistant Dean in the A&S College office, will be joining our teaching faculty later this summer as a lecturer & undergraduate research coordinator.
We hope you can take a minute to update us on your personal and professional accomplishments. We also welcome you to share your memories of your time spent at Washington University.
Jasmine Brown is the author of "Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians, from the Civil War to the 21st Century."
Barbara Morgan Detjen shares her journey from first-year biology to becoming an award-winning project manager at Pfizer.
Professor Emerita Ursula Goodenough was elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Undergraduate Miriam Silberman was awarded the Professor Garland Allen Prize
Undergraduates Larissa Rays Wahba and Xiyun Zhang were awarded the Spector Prize
Undergraduate Julian Ginzburg Abt was awarded the Quatrano Prize
Undergraduates Maya Tsingos and Sindhuri Ivaturi were awarded the Stalker Prize
