Biology: Life on Earth

Terry and Gerry Audesirk grew up in New Jersey, where they met as undergraduates. After marrying in 1970, they moved to California, where Terry earned her doctorate in marine ecology at the University of Southern California and Gerry earned his doctorate in neurobiology at the California Institute of Technology. As postdoctoral fellows at the University of Washington's marine laboratories, they worked together on the neural bases of behavior, using a marine mollusk as a model system. The Audesirks joined the faculty of the University of Colorado, Denver, in 1982, where they taught introductory biology and neurobiology, and researched mechanisms of heavy metal toxicity and the effects of estrogen on cultured neurons until their retirement in 2006.

Terry and Gerry share a deep appreciation of nature and of the outdoors. After retirement, they moved to a ranch near Steamboat Springs, where they enjoy hiking, horseback riding, and snowshoeing. Long-time members of many conservation organizations, they do volunteer work with the Nature Conservatory.

Bruce E. Byers , a midwesterner transplanted to the hills of western Massachusetts, is a professor in the biology department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has been a member of the faculty at UMass (where he also completed his doctoral degree) since 1993. Bruce teaches courses in ornithology and evolution.

A lifelong fascination with birds ultimately led Bruce to scientific exploration of avian biology. His current research focuses on the behavioral ecology of birds, especially on the function and evolution of the vocal signals that birds use to communicate. The pursuit of vocalizations often takes Bruce outdoors, where he can be found before dawn, tape recorder in hand, awaiting the first songs of a new day.