Genetics Laboratory Manual

Mark Shotwell earned a B.S. in Botany from Ohio University and a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan. After postdoctoral work at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and Purdue University, he came to the University of Arizona. There he wrote and taught lab exercises for Dr. Dennis Ray’s Plant Genetics course. From that seed grew this Genetics Laboratory Manual. The following year Dr. Shotwell had the opportunity to teach the entire Plant Genetics course as the sabbatical replacement for Dr. Ray (who was off visiting Mendel’s garden in Brno, among other adventures). These experiences were instrumental in his being hired as the geneticist at Slippery Rock University, where he has taught Genetics 40 times over the last 23 years. Dr. Shotwell has published research on the coiling of pea tendrils, the uptake of amino acids by mammalian cells, the cloning of genes from Chinese hamster ovary cells, and the analysis of seed storage protein genes in oats and maize. His current interests, in addition to genetics education, center on the history of genetics and the eugenics movement, and on social and ethical issues in modern genetics.

Dr. Dennis Ray, University Distinguished Professor, and Professor of Plant Sciences and Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona. He has also held positions as Faculty Associate to the Vice President for Undergraduate Education, Associate Director of the School of Plant Sciences, and Chair, Interdisciplinary Graduate Committee on Genetics. Dr. Ray has taught genetics at the University of Arizona for over 30 years. His teaching has been acknowledged by his peers by being elected Vice President of the Education Division of the American Society for Horticultural Sciences, and being named a University Distinguished Professor for exceptional contributions to undergraduate education. Other teaching awards include: The Bart Cardon Sustained Excellence in Teaching Award; named a Fellow in The Bart Cardon Academy for Teaching Excellence; United States Department of Agriculture Food and Agricultural Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award; Outstanding Honors Faculty Member; Five Star Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching; the Provost General Education Teaching Award; Faculty Teaching Award, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; the National Association of College Teachers of Agriculture, Outstanding Teacher Award; and the Honor Society of Agriculture, Gamma Sigma Delta, Outstanding Junior Faculty Award. Dr. Ray’s research interests include the genetics of crop plants and the domestication of new crops. His present research emphasizes the development of new crops suitable for cultivation in arid and semiarid environments. He earned B.S., M.S. degrees in Zoology, and a Ph. D. degree in Genetics from the University of Arizona.