Mary Colvard is a biology teacher retired from the classroom after 31 years. She presently works as a consultant to the New York State Education Department. Her excellence in teaching has been recognized through awards such as the Radioshack National Teacher Award, Access Excellence Award, Science Teachers Association of New York State Fellow Sigma Xi Outstanding Science Teacher, and NABT Outstanding Biology Teacher in Hew York State Awards, and NABT excellence in Encouraging Equity Award. Ms Colvard is a leader in the National Association of Biology Teachers and the Science Teachers Association of New York State, and has participated in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute undergraduate grant directors meetings. Ms. Colvard has authored many laboratory investigations for the HHMI funded Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers, and has served as a summer instructor for the program. She is a Cold Spring Harbor Dolan DNA Learning Center Teacher Fellow, and has been a contributing author to several high school science textbooks. Ms. Colvard recently served on the Committee on Undergraduate Science Education and as a member of the biology panel for the Committee on Programs for Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in American High Schools. She has a M.Ed. in secondary biology from the State University of New York at Oneonta.