Therese Ann Markow
Therese Markow is Regents' Professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at The University of Arizona and is director of the Tucson Drosophila Species Stock Center. She also is an adjunct professor at the Research Center for Food and Development (CIAD) in Hermosillo Sonora Mexico. Markow is an evolutionary biologist who studies speciation and adaptation to novel environments. Her research primarily utilizes Drosophila especially the species endemic to the Sonoran Desert that breed in decaying cactus. By living in the harsh desert in plants that contain toxic chemicals this group of flies provides an outstanding opportunity to study the process of evolution. Research on this system combines a wide range of approaches from field work to understand the ecologies of the different species to the use of microarrays to understand the genetic underpinnings of host shifts and reproductive isolation. She also investigates genetics and ecology of other insects in the Sonoran Desert especially those that share the cacti with Drosophila and others that vector infectious disease. Markow received a Ph.D. in zoology (genetics) and B.S. in physical anthropology both from Arizona State University. She has served as editor of Evolution (1994-98) was recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship (Mexico) in 1995 and was a fellow at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at The University of Arizona in 2004. In 2001 she was awarded a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. She has published some 90 scientific articles in such journals as American Naturalist Animal Behavior Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics Annual Review of Entomology Annual Review of Genetics Biochemical Genetics Biological Conservation Ecology Letters Ecotoxicology Evolution Functional Ecology Genetics Hereditas Journal of Evolutionary Biology Journal of Experimental Zoology Journal of Insect Physiology Journal of Thermal Biology Marine Biology Molecular Biology and Evolution Molecular Ecology Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution Nature Oikos Physiological and Biochemical Zoology Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Proceedings of the Royal Society and Science. She is co-author with Patrick O'Grady of Drosophila: A Guide to Species Identification and Use (Elsevier Academic Press 2005).