Biology: Exploring the Diversity of Life Russell, Peter; Wolfe, Stephen L.; Hertz, Paul; Starr, Cecie; Fenton, Brock; Addy, Heather; Maxwell, Denis; Haffie, Tom and Davey, Kenneth

Biology: Exploring the Diversity of Life covers all the core concepts professors need their students to master before going on to upper level courses in a concise and accessible fashion. It also gives the historical precedent for all that we know now, as well as providing information on current research and modern molecular tools that have allowed us to ask and answer questions we never thought possible 10 years ago. The final piece of the puzzle and also the most unique feature is that, through the "Unanswered Questions" box, the text gives students a perspective on what researchers are working on for the future and what the impact will be to the world when these discoveries are made. Biology: Exploring the Diversity of Life goes beyond what normal Biology textbooks have done. Not only has it been designed with the Canadian student in mind but it has been built with the help of Canadian students. With new features such as "Molecule Behind Biology", "People Behind Biology" and "Life on the Edge", Canadian students will enjoy learning Biology and instructors will enjoy teaching it.

Peter J. Russell received a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Sussex, England, in 1968 and a Ph.D. in Genetics from Cornell University in 1972. He has been a member of the Biology faculty of Reed College since 1972 and is currently a Professor of Biology, Emeritus. Peter taught a section of the introductory biology course, a genetics course, and a research literature course on molecular virology. In 1987 he received the Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award from Reed College in recognition of his excellence in teaching, He is the author of iGENETICS: A MOLECULAR, APPROACH, a successful genetics textbook. Peter’s research was in the area of molecular genetics, with a specific interest in characterizing the role of host genes in the replication of the RNA genome of a pathogenic plant virus, and the expression of the genes of the virus; yeast was used as the model host. His research has been funded by agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the Department of Defense, the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon, and the Murdoch Foundation. He has published his research results in a variety of journals, including GENETICS, JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, MOLECULAR AND GENERAL GENETICS, NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH, PLASMID, and MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY. Peter has a long history of encouraging faculty research involving undergraduates, including cofounding the biology division of the Council on Undergraduate Research in 1985. He was Principal Investigator/Program Director of a National Science Foundation Award for the Integration of Research and Education (NSF–AIRE) to Reed College, 1998 to 2002.

Stephen L. Wolfe [U of California, Davis (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University)] taught general biology and cell biology for many years at the University of California, Davis. His textbooks include multiple editions of Biology of the Cell, Biology: The Foundations, Cell Ultrastructure, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology.

Paul E. Hertz was born and raised in New York City. He received a B.S. in Biology from Stanford University in 1972, an A.M. in Biology from Harvard University in 1973, and a Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University in 1977. While completing field research for the doctorate, he served on the Biology faculty of the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. After two years as an Isaac Walton Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at Dalhousie University, Paul accepted a teaching position at Barnard College, where he has taught since 1979. He was named Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Biology in 2000, received The Barnard Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2007, and was named Claire Tow Professor of Biology in 2016. In addition to serving on numerous college committees, Paul chaired Barnard’s Biology Department for eight years and served as Acting Provost and Dean of the Faculty from 2011 to 2012. He was the founding Program Director of the Hughes Science Pipeline Project at Barnard, an undergraduate curriculum and research program that was funded continuously by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1992 until 2016. The Pipeline Project included the Intercollegiate Partnership, a program for local community college students that facilitated their transfer to four-year colleges and universities. He teaches one semester of the introductory sequence for Biology majors and pre-professional students, lecture and laboratory courses in vertebrate zoology and ecology, and seminars that introduce first-year students to scientific research. Paul is an animal physiological ecologist with a specific research interest in the thermal biology of lizards. He has conducted fieldwork in the West Indies since the mid-1970s, focusing on the lizards of Cuba and Puerto Rico. His work has been funded by the NSF, and he has published his research in THE AMERICAN NATURALIST, ECOLOGY, NATURE, OECOLOGIA, and PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

For decades, Cecie Starr has been known as one of the best-selling biology textbook authors. Her texts, appreciated for their clarity in both the written word and the visual representation of biological concepts, include multiple editions of BIOLOGY: THE UNITY AND DIVERSITY OF LIFE, BIOLOGY: CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS, and BIOLOGY TODAY AND TOMORROW. Her original dream was to become an architect. Instead of building houses, she now builds, with care and attention to detail, texts based on this philosophy: "I invite students into a chapter through an intriguing story. Once inside, they get the great windows that biologists construct on the world of life. Biology is not just another house. It is a conceptual mansion. I hope to do it justice."

M.B. (Brock) Fenton received his Ph.D. in 1969 for work in the ecology and behaviour of bats. Since then he has held academic positions at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada 1969 to 1986), York University (Toronto, Canada 1986 to 2003) and the University of Western Ontario (2003 to present). He has published over 200 papers in refereed journals (most of them about bats), as well as numerous nontechnical contributions. He has written three books about bats intended for a general audience (Just bats 1983, University of Toronto Press; Bats 1992 - revised edition 2001 Facts On File Inc; and The bat: wings in the night sky 1998, Key Porter Press). He has supervised the work of 46 M.Sc. Students and 22 Ph.D. students who have completed their degrees. He currently supervises 5 M.Sc. students and 2 Ph.D. students. He continues his research on the ecology and behaviour of bats, with special emphasis on echolocation. He currently is an Emeritus Professor of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.