Joy M. Bergelson is an American evolutionary biologist. She is currently the Dorothy Schiff Professor of Genomics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. 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, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, 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 borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and raised in Metuchen, New Jersey, Bergelson graduated in 1980 from Metuchen High School, which inducted her into its hall of fame in 2017. Bergelson graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

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

Marshall Scholar 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 widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...

at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

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

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

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

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, before joining the faculty of the

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

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 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 flowering plant native to Eurasia and Africa. ''A. thaliana'' is considered a weed; it is found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land. A winter a ...

'', 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

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

in 2004 * Elected fellow of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, 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 Nati ...

in 2018 * Elected fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) 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 ...

in 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergelson, Joy M. 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 women biologists Evolutionary biologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Women evolutionary biologists Washington University in St. Louis faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women