JOANNE M. WILLEY has been a professor at Hofstra University on Long Island, New York, since 1993, where she is Professor of Microbiology; she holds a joint appointment with the Hostra University School of Medicine. Dr. Willey received her B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania, where her interest in microbiology began with work on cyanobacterial growth in eutrophic streams. She earned her Ph.D. in biological oceanography (specializing in marine microbiology) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in 1987. She then went to Harvard University where she spent her postdoctoral fellowship studying the filamentous soil bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor. Dr. Willey continuesto investigate this fascinating microbe and has co-authored a number of publications that focus on its complex developmental cycle. She is an active member of the American Society for Microbiology, served on the editorial board of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology for nine years, and served as Chair of the Division of General Microbiology. Dr. Willey regularly teaches microbiology to biology majors as well as medical students. She also teaches courses in cell biology, marine microbiology, and laboratory techniques in molecular genetics. Dr. Willey lives on the north shore of Long Island with her husband and two sons. She is an avid runner and enjoys skiing, hiking, sailing, and reading. She can be reached at joanne.m.willey@hofstra.edu

LINDA M. SHERWOOD is a member of the Department of Microbiology at Montana State University. Her interest in microbiology was sparked by the last course she took to complete a B.S. degree in Psychology at Western Illinois University. She went on to complete an M.S. degree in Microbiology at the University of Alabama,where she studied histidine utilization by Pseudomonas acidovorans. She subsequently earned a Ph.D. in Genetics at Michigan State University where she studied sporulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. She briefly left the microbial world to study the molecular biology of dunce fruit flies at Michigan State University before her move to Montana State University. Dr. Sherwood has always had a keen interest in teaching, and her psychology training has helped her to understand current models of cognition and learning and their implications for teaching. Over the years, she has taught courses in general microbiology, genetics, biology, microbial genetics, and microbial physiology. She has served as the editor for ASM’s Focus on Microbiology Education, and has participated in and contributed to numerous ASM Conferences for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE). She also has worked with K–12 teachers to develop a kit-based unit to introduce microbiology into the elementary school curriculum, and has coauthored with Barbara Hudson a general microbiology laboratory manual, Explorations in Microbiology: A Discovery Approach, published by Prentice-Hall. Her association with McGraw-Hill began when she prepared the study guides for the fifth and sixth editions of Microbiology. Her non-academic interests focus primarily on her family. She also enjoys reading, hiking, gardening, and traveling. She can be reached at lsherwood@montana.edu.

CHRISTOPHER J. WOOLVERTON is professor of Environmental Health Science and a founding member of the College of Public Health at Kent State University (Kent, OH). Dr. Woolverton served in the Department of Biological Sciences at Kent State for 14 years and continues to serve as the Director of the Kent State University Center for Public Health Preparedness, overseeing its BSL-3 Training Facility. He holds a joint appointment at Akron Children’s Hospital (Akron, OH). He earned his B.S. in Biology from Wilkes College, Wilkes-Barre, PA, and his M.S. and a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology from West Virginia University, College of Medicine. He spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at UNC-Chapel Hill elucidating the role of bacteria on the regulation of immunity in germ-free rodents. Dr. Woolverton’s research interests today focus on real time detection and identification of pathogens using a liquid crystal biosensor that he patented in 2001. Dr. Woolverton has published and lectured widely on the mechanisms by which liquid crystals are used as biosensors. Professor Woolverton has taught Microbiology to undergraduates, along with Immunology and Microbial Physiology, to graduate students. He also teaches laboratory safety, risk assessment, and bioterrorism readiness to laboratory professionals. Woolverton is an active member of ASM, recently serving as the editor-in-chief of ASM’s Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. Woolverton resides in Kent, Ohio, with his wife Nancy and daughters Samantha and Abbey. Daughter Lyssa married Ken and currently resides in Arizona. Dr. Woolverton enjoys hiking and camping, and is an avid cyclist and Spinning instructor. His email address is cwoolver@kent.edu.

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