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Professor of Genetics/Entomology |
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Mailing Address: |
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University |
| College Station, TX 77843-2475 | |
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Phone & Fax: |
(409) 845-8295 & (409) 845-6305 |
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E-mail: |
spencerj@tamu.edu |
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Present Position: |
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Education: |
Ph.D., Genetics, 1972, Dr. W. B. Heed; University of Arizona, Tucson |
| B.S., Zoology, 1967, University of Washington, Seattle | |
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| Professor of Genetics/Entomology, Department of Entomology, TAMU, 1997 - present |
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Director of Flow Cytometry: Center for Biosystematics and Biodiversity, TAMU, Sep. 89 - present |
| Associate Professor of Entomology, Department of Entomology, TAMU, 1986 - 1997 |
| Associate Professor, Department of Plant Science, TAMU, Jan. 1980 - Aug 1985 |
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Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Sep. 1975 - Dec. 1979 |
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NIH Post-doctoral Fellow, (Genetics), University of Texas, Austin, Sep. 1972 - Aug. 1975 |
Professional Activities and Recognition:
| Outstanding Undergraduate Genetics Professor, 1996 |
| Outstanding Undergraduate Genetics Professor, 1992 |
| Agricultural Advisory Committee, 1983 - 1984 |
| Agricultural Advisory Committee Chair, 1985 |
| Faculty Senate, 1988-1991 |
| Genetics Executive Committee, 1989 - 1992 |
| Genetics Prelims Committee Chair, 1983 - 1988 |
| Key speaker for the Hawaii Evolutionary Biology Program, 1985 |
| Key speaker for the IPM symposium on plant/insect interactions, 1986 |
| Reviewer for Cytometry (1991-Present), Jn. of Genetics, 1972 - Present |
| Jn. of Evolution, 1975 - Present; Bioch. Genet. 1976 - Present |
| Amer. Natur., 1976 - Present, Ent. Soc. Amer. 1980-Present |
| 100% Appt. 1979 - 1981; 80% Appt. 1982 - Present |
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I enjoy and take pride in my teaching, having taught over 4500 students to date in three undergraduate courses, Introductory Genetics (GENE 301), Population and Ecological Genetics (GENE 412) and Human Genetics (GENE 320), and four graduate courses, Population Genetics (GENE 612), Advanced Genetics (GENE 603), Cytogenetics (Baylor), and Biometrics (Baylor). My responsibilities at TAMU included development of the Genetics 301 laboratory, which is the largest such course in the nation. We have updated and published each year, since 1984, a methods/problems manual for the laboratory course. By the end of this year, the self-paced competency-based computer instructions that supplement the course and laboratory will be available on the World Wide Web via Netscape. |
| 20% Appt. 1982 - Present |
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My current research interests are in population genetics, ecological genetics and biodiversity, specifically as they relate to introduced or colonizing species. Drosophila mercatorum, the fire ant, greenbug, and (most recently) Strepsiptera, undergo massive genetic changes as they undergo the process of colonization. The changes are only now being documented and considered as essential parts of the evolutionary process. My other research interests are in genome evolution in plants and insects. We continue to document the extent and adaptive nature of these changes, and (in the sunflower) are getting ever closer to the molecular/adaptive basis of these changes. |
| Jerry Cook. A study of the relationship between Caenocolax feneysi Pierce (Strepsiptera, Myrmecolacidae) and the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Ph. D. Thesis, Entomology 1996. |
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Martha Gomez. DNA content of cultivated varieties of cotton. M. S. Thesis, Genetics, 1993. FISH analysis of Sorghum Bicolor. Ph. D. Thesis. Genetics 1997. |
| Nina Barcenas. Cytogenetic and genome size studies of the boll weevil Anthonomus grandis Boheman and related species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Ph. D. Thesis, Genetics, 1992. |
| Kei Wei. Characterization of a cytosolic juvenile binding protein from the house fly, Musca domestica L. and its relationship to metabolic resistance to insecticides. Ph. D. thesis, Entomology, 1992. |
| Richard Thomas. Nutrition and aging in Drosophila mercatorum, Ph. D. Thesis, Entomology, 1990 |
| Raymond Dunton. The population genetic structure of monogynous and polygynous populations of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, Ph. D. thesis, Entomology, 1988 |
| Terry Cluck. The genetics of insecticide resistance in the Housefly, Ph. D. Thesis, Genetics, 1987 |
| Judy Baldwin. Polytene chromosomes of Drosophila. hydei and D. mercatorum from Kamuela Hawaii. M. S. Thesis, Biology, Baylor University, 1979. |
| Mark Joiner. Factors affecting Drosophila Age determination. M. S. Thesis, Biology, Baylor University 1978. |
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Current Graduate Students: Andrea Jensen, Entomology Ph. D., Ron Cole, Entomology, Ph. D. |
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Professional Society Memberships:
| Cytometry Association |
| Genetics Society of America |
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Entomological Society of America |
| Evolution |
| Society of American Naturalists |
| Texas Genetics Society |
This page was last updated on January 03, 2003.
