UFGI zoologist gets $1 million from Howard Hughes Medical Institute

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida zoologist Louis Guillette believes in “paying it forward.” An international authority on questions of endangered species and the effects of contaminants on the health of people and animals, Guillette knows his career was shaped by people who inspired him along the way.

Since then, he’s tried to return the favor, reaching out to students from graduate-school to high-school levels with a message that science is exciting. Not only that, he tries to awaken mentoring qualities in faculty and older students.

His efforts were recognized by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which recently named him one of 20 professors to receive a four-year, $1 million grant to expand undergraduate science education.

“Most young faculty and graduate students are taught how to do research and write papers, but they’re never taught much about the concept of mentoring,” said Guillette, a member of the UF Genetics Institute. “They learn about mentoring because they had great mentors themselves, and they think, ‘That was really helpful. I want to be like that.’”

Guillette credits no less than three mentors for guiding him during undergraduate and graduate school. That’s not counting Howard Bern, an emeritus professor of zoology at the University of California at Berkeley, whom Guillette refers to as his “academic grandfather.”

Bern helped expose the link between cancer and DES, a synthetic form of estrogen that was given to millions of pregnant women between 1938 and 1971. “He taught me that one’s legacy to science is not the work that you do, but the people you leave behind,” Guillette said. “When a National Academy of Sciences member tells you that a scientist’s biggest legacy is helping young people succeed, it truly means something. ”

“We all want to be world-class scientists and researchers, but helping young people succeed is our biggest legacy. ”

The grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will help Guillette train young faculty and graduate students to be mentors and provide opportunities for undergraduates and high school students to get hands-on research experience.

“We want to form partnerships and create opportunities that cross college boundaries,” Guillette said. “It’s like the whole multidisciplinary concept of the Genetics Institute. I happen to sit in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, but I want to involve students and faculty from throughout the university.”

Guillette was among 20 scientists chosen for the grant by a panel of research scientists and educators. Panelists evaluated the potential impact of proposals on undergraduate science education, as well as the quality of the applicants' research and educational accomplishments, and the potential for the proposed programs to serve as models elsewhere.

"The scientists whom we have selected are true pioneers — not only in their research, but in their creative approaches and dedication to teaching," said Thomas R. Cech, HHMI president. "We are hopeful that their educational experiments will energize undergraduate science education throughout the nation."

The associate dean for research in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Guillette has taught thousands of undergraduate and graduate students in courses related to his research in comparative reproductive biology. A member of the UF faculty since 1985, he received UF’s Teacher/Scholar of the Year Award in 1998 and was named a UF Distinguished Alumni Professor in 1999.

Guillette has advised countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and Botswana on the development of reproductive biology programs for endangered wildlife. He and his students work on a variety of organisms including alligators, fish, frogs and humans. His research examining the role of environmental contaminants as inducers of birth defects in various wildlife species, and its implications for children’s health, has drawn international attention and has been featured on national and international media programs, including “Nova,” “Frontline” and the BBC.

For more information contact John Pastor, (352)-273-5815 or email jdpastor@ufl.edu