Bernie May | |
---|---|
Born | 1947 (age 76–77) |
Alma mater | University of Washington, Pennsylvania State University |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Genetics, fisheries science |
Institutions | University of California, Davis |
Doctoral advisor | James E. Wright, Jr. |
Bernie May (born 1947) is a geneticist, known for his work applying genetic tools to address questions in natural resource management and conservation, with a particular focus on aquatic species. He is director of the Genomic Variation Lab [1] and was adjunct professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis from 1995 to 2014 and is now an Emeritus Research Professor. May has published over 200 papers [2] in 65 journals on divergent taxa, including fish, crustaceans, insects, plants, fungi, and mammals, bringing simple Mendelian genetic data to answer a diverse array of biological and ecological questions.
May received a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology from the University of Washington in 1973, a master's degree in fisheries [3] from the University of Washington in 1975 under Fred M. Utter, and a PhD in Genetics [4] from The Pennsylvania State University in 1980 under the late Dr. James E. Wright, Jr. In 1981, he started the Cornell University Laboratory for Ecological and Evolutionary Genetics, serving as its Senior Research Associate and Director for 14 years. He then moved to the University of California, Davis in 1995, where he initiated the Genomic Variation Laboratory, [5] serving as its director and an adjunct professor in the Department of Animal Science. [6] He retired in June 2014 and became an Emeritus Research Professor at the University of California, Davis. He has been a soft money scientist[ clarify ] for his entire career.
As a graduate student and early career investigator, Dr. May pioneered the application of allozyme electrophoresis to measure genetic variability in aquatic organisms. His Master's thesis [7] included a manual for allozyme electrophoresis, has been widely referenced, and subsequently appeared as a book chapter. He contributed key papers that played an integral role in forming our current understanding of the structure and evolution of salmonid genomes. He was an important player in the early mapping of the salmonid genome and coined the term “residual tetrasomy". [8] During his early career Dr. May also discovered the presence of and coined the name for the quagga mussel. [9] He designed one of the earliest graphical user interface population genetic software programs, Genes in Populations. [10]
However, one of the most significant contributions that Dr. May has made to the field of science has been through his mentoring activities and he won the University of California, Davis Graduate Group in Ecology award for Most Valuable Professor in 2007 for his mentoring service. Dr. May advised over 28 PhD and six Master's students, served on the committees of 38 others, and influenced hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students over the course of his career. The majority of his over 200 peer-reviewed publications have been co-authored with students or postdocs. Three of these papers have been recognized as outstanding by the American Fisheries Society through the Robert L. Kendall Award (1994, 2013) [11] [12] and the Phelps Award (2008). [13]
Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmon, trout, char, graylings, freshwater whitefishes, taimens and lenoks, all coldwater mid-level predatory fish that inhabit the subarctic and cool temperate waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The Atlantic salmon, whose Latin name became that of its genus Salmo, is also the eponym of the family and order names.
Molecular genetics is a branch of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the structure and/or function of genes in an organism's genome using genetic screens.
Genetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals or the differences between populations among the same species. The multiple sources of genetic variation include mutation and genetic recombination. Mutations are the ultimate sources of genetic variation, but other mechanisms, such as genetic drift, contribute to it, as well.
In biochemistry, isozymes are enzymes that differ in amino acid sequence but catalyze the same chemical reaction. Isozymes usually have different kinetic parameters, or are regulated differently. They permit the fine-tuning of metabolism to meet the particular needs of a given tissue or developmental stage.
Oncorhynchus is a genus of ray-finned fish in the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae, native to coldwater tributaries of the North Pacific basin. The genus contains twelve extant species, namely six species of Pacific salmon and six species of Pacific trout, all of which are migratory mid-level predatory fish that display natal homing and semelparity.
Dr George B. Johnson is a science educator who for many years has written a weekly column "On Science" in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. For over 30 years he was a biology professor at Washington University and a genetics professor at Washington University School of Medicine. He has authored 44 scientific papers and ten high school and college biology texts. Over 3 million students have learned biology from these texts.
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Brachymystax lenok, the sharp-snouted lenok, is a salmonid fish distributed in rivers and lakes in northeastern Asia. It formerly included the blunt-snouted lenok, but recent authorities typically treat the latter as a separate species, B. tumensis, based on differences in morphology and genetics.
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Catherine L. Malone is an American biologist and an author and co-author of biological subjects including works on biogeography and genetic variation.
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Robert Wayne Allard was an American plant breeder and plant population geneticist who is widely regarded as one of the leading plant population geneticists of the 20th century. Allard became chair of the genetics department at University of California, Davis in 1967; he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1973, and was awarded the DeKalb-Pfizer Distinguished Career Award and the Crop Science Science of America Award. He was honored as the Nilsson-Ehle Lecturer of the Mendelian Society of Sweden and as the Wilhelmine Key lecturer of the American Genetic Association. He also served as president of the Genetics Society of America, the American Genetic Association and the American Society of Naturalists.
Sarah Anne Tishkoff is an American geneticist and the David and Lyn Silfen Professor in the Department of Genetics and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. She also serves as a director for the American Society of Human Genetics and is an associate editor at PLOS Genetics, G3, and Genome Research. She is also a member of the scientific advisory board at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
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