BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

 Alison M. Roark was born in Norfolk, Virginia on October 26th, 1978. She attended Mills

Godwin High School in Richmond, Virginia, where she was a leader in the marching and concert

bands. After graduating in 1996, Alison attended the University of Virginia (Charlottesville) and

obtained her Bachelor of Science in chemistry with specialization in biochemistry in 2000. She

also fulfilled the requirements for the Distinguished Majors Program in biology with highest

distinction and served as President of the Biology Society. Alison participated in undergraduate

research in two different laboratories at the University of Virginia and also completed two

Research Experience for Undergraduates programs, one at the University of Texas (Austin) and

one at the Long-Term Ecological Research station in Oyster, Virginia. After her second year, she

spent three weeks in San Salvador, The Bahamas, for a class in coral reef ecology and credits

this course with steering her toward a career in academia.

 In 2000, Alison joined the Department of Zoology at the University of Florida under the

direction of Karen Bjorndal. In the spring of 2003, she completed her master's bypass. While at

the University of Florida, Alison taught a number of classes, including functional vertebrate

anatomy laboratory and the discussion sections and laboratories for both semesters of

introductory biology. In her final year as a graduate student, she taught her own non-majors

biology course (Cells, Organisms, and Genetics). In the summer of 2007, Alison begins a

postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Lou Guillette through the Howard Hughes Medical

Institute's Group Advantaged Training of Research (G.A.T.O.R.) program.