Mary Williams

Bio

FEATURES EDITOR, THE PLANT CELL

My abiding passion is plant science, particularly plant science education.

I pursued a traditional academic path (BS in Biochemistry at Berkeley, PhD in Plant Molecular Biology at Rockefeller, Postdoc in Plant Science at Berkeley); my research focused on transcriptional regulation, root development and phosphoinositide signaling. I spent 14 years at a liberal arts college / primarily undergraduate institution (Harvey Mudd College), rising to the rank of Full Professor.

After climbing that mountain, I decided to climb another.

I decided that the best way for me to support plant science education was to step out of the classroom and start helping others to teach more effectively, and to help create an online, international, collaborative community of educators who can share and learn from each other. Towards that end, I accepted the position of Features Editor of Teaching Tools in Plant Biology.

Plantae provides another opportunity for community building.  I am a Community Manager and I hope to find ways to facilitate the exchange of ideas, resources and tips. I also am very active on social media and Tweet as @PlantTeaching.

Here's a summary of what we have accomplished with Teaching Tools so far and our thoughts about global commuity-building. 

Here's an interview where I share my thoughts on social media (Global Plant Council)

Here's an interview where I share my thoughts on teaching (SEB) (seems to be missing - here is a different but related article) 

Here's a profile where I talk about using classic texts for teaching (Biodiversity Heritage Library)

I have three children (one a teacher, one studying sports science, one who wants to be a scientist) and can share my thoughts on surviving parenting while careering....

My husband is an artist who donates a lot of images to Teaching Tools and other plant science education efforts.

I have traveled and lived all over the world but chose to settle down in the nicest place of all, western Scotland