2003-04 Lecture Series: Mathematics Across the Disciplines Lecture #6: A Biologist's View of the Role of Math in Bioinformatics Dr. Marianne Laporte Biology Department Dr. Laporte joined the Biology faculty at EMU in the fall of 2001. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, a master's degree from Indiana University, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. She was a Postdoctoral Associate at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., a subsidiary of DuPont, and received Postdoctoral Fellowship from the United States Department of Agriculture, which she completed at Iowa State University and the University of Michigan. Her research, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, focuses on creating genetically engineered plants that use less water when grown under irrigation as well as on understanding the biochemistry of plant water loss. A second avenue of research in Dr. Laporte's lab centers on elucidating the cellular recycling process known as autophagy in plant cells. Dr. Laporte teaches botany, economic botany, a laboratory course in cell and molecular biology and genetics, and bioinformatics.