Eugene (Gene) Nester did his undergraduate work at Cornell University and received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from Case Western University. He then did postdoctoral work in the Department of Genetics at Stanford University with Joshua Lederberg. Since 1962, Gene has been a faculty member in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington. Gene’s research has focused on gene transfer systems in bacteria. His laboratory demonstrated that Agrobacterium transfers DNA into plant cells, the basis for disease, crown gall. He continues to study this unique system of gene transfer which has become a cornerstone of plant biotechnology.
In 1990, Gene Nester was awarded the inaugural Australia Prize along with an Australian and German scientist for their work on Agrobacterium transformation of plants. In 1991, he was awarded the Cetus Prize in Biotechnology by the American Society of Microbiology. He has been elected to Fellowship in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the National Academy of Sciences in India. Throughout his career, Gene has been actively involved with the American Society for Microbiology and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology.
In addition to his research activities, Gene has taught an introductory microbiology course for students in the allied health sciences for many years. He wrote the original version of the present text, Microbiology: Molecules, Microbes and Man, with Evans Roberts and Nancy Pearsall more than 30 years ago because they felt no suitable text was available for this group of students. The original text pioneered the organ system approach to the study of infectious disease.
Gene enjoys traveling, museum hopping, and the study and collecting of Northwest Coast Indian Art. He and his wife, Martha, live on Lake Washington with a seldom used sailboat, but a well used kayak. Their two children and four grandchildren live in the Seattle area.
Denise Anderson
Denise Anderson is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington, where she teaches a variety of courses including general microbiology, recombinant DNA techniques, medical bacteriology laboratory, and medical mycology/parasitology laboratory. Equipped with a diverse educational background, including undergraduate work in nutrition and graduate work in food science and in microbiology, she first discovered a passion for teaching when she taught microbiology laboratory courses as part of her graduate training. Her enthusiastic teaching style, fueled by regular doses of Seattle’s famous caffeine, receives high reviews by her students.
Outside of academic life, Denise relaxes in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, where she lives with her husband, Richard Moore, and one dog, neither of which is very well trained. When not planning lectures, grading papers, or writing textbook chapters, she can usually be found chatting with the neighbors, fighting the weeds in her garden, or enjoying a fermented beverage at the local pub.
Evans Roberts
Evans Roberts was a marginally motivated mathematics student at Haverford College when a chance encounter landed him a summer job at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. There, interaction with leading scientists awakened his interest in biology and medicine. After completing his undergraduate work in mathematics, he studied for his M.D. at Columbia University, completed an internship at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and held a Residency in Medicine at the University of Washington. Further, he received a fellowship in Infectious Disease with Dr. William M. Kirby and fulfilled a traineeship in Diagnostic Microbiology with Dr. John Sherris.
Subsequently, Dr. Roberts has taught microbiology, directed diagnostic microbiology laboratories, worked on hospital infection control committees, and helped in a refugee camp for Karen people in northern Thailand. He has had extensive experience in the practice of medicine as it relates to infectious diseases. He is certified both by the American Board of Microbiology and the American Board of Internal Medicine, and is a member of American Academy of Family Physicians.
Evans Roberts worked with Gene Nester in the early development of Microbiology: A Human Perspective. His professional publications concern susceptibility testing as a guide to treatment of infectious diseases, Whipple’s disease, Group A streptococcal epidemiology, use of fluorescent antibody in diagnosis, bacteriocin typing, antimicrobial resistance of tuberculosis and gonorrhea, viral encephalitis, and rabies. Dr. Roberts has traveled extensively around the world. For relaxation he enjoys hiking and gardening, especially the cultivation of flowers andexotic tropical fruits.
Martha Nester
Martha Nester received an undergraduate degree in biology from Oberlin College and a Master’s degree in education from Stanford University. She has worked in university research laboratories and has taught elementary school. She currently works in an environmental education program at the Seattle Audubon Society. Martha has worked with her husband, Gene, for more than 35 years on microbiology textbook projects, at first informally as an editor and sounding board, and then in the last 22 years as one of the authors of Microbiology: A Human Perspective. Martha’s favorite activities include spending time with their four grandchildren, all of whom live in the Seattle area. She also enjoys playing the cello with a number of musical groups in the Seattle area.
