Joy Michele Bergelson is an American

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biol ...

. She is currently the Dorothy Schiff Professor of Genomics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Bergelson was previously and James D. Watson Distinguished Service Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where she chaired the department for ecology and evolution. Her research focuses on the evolution and ecology of plants.

Education and career

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York and raised in

Metuchen, New Jersey Metuchen ( ) is a suburban Borough (New Jersey), borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan River, Raritan Valle ...

, She graduated in 1980 from

Metuchen High School Metuchen High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Metuchen in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Met ...

, which inducted her into its hall of fame in 2017. Bergelson graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

with an ScB in Biology in 1984. She went on to further study with a

Marshall Scholarship The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is considered among the most prestigious scholarsh ...

at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, receiving an MPhil in Biology in 1986 and a PhD in zoology from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1990. Bergelson worked as a demonstrator in Ecology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, before joining the faculty of the

Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis is home to the College of Arts and Sciences and corresponding graduate programs across its many departments. The current Dean of the Faculty is Feng Sheng Hu, the Lucille P. Markey Distingui ...

in 1992. She left St. Louis for Chicago in 1994. She served as the section chair for Biology of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

in 2012.

Research

Bergelson is known for her research on the model plant species ''

Arabidopsis thaliana ''Arabidopsis thaliana'', the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small plant from the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and Africa. Commonly found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land, it is generally ...

'', its ecology and the evolution of plant-pathogen interactions. Her early research examined interactions between insects and trees, spatial patterns in trees and weeds, and the energetic cost to plants to resist insects. Subsequently, she examined genetic variation in ''Arabidopsis thaliana,'' the genetic basis for disease resistance in plants, and polymorphisms in ''Arabidopsis.'' Bergelson's research has also examined genetic adaptations in plants to recent climate change.

Selected publications

* * *

Honors and awards

* Elected fellow of the

in 2004 * Elected fellow of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 2018 * Elected fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergelson, Joy Alumni of the University of York 20th-century American biologists 21st-century American biologists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Metuchen High School alumni New York University faculty People from Metuchen, New Jersey Scientists from New Jersey University of Chicago faculty Brown University alumni University of Washington alumni Marshall Scholars American evolutionary biologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American women evolutionary biologists Washington University in St. Louis faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women Biologists from New Jersey