— LISTEE'S SPOTLIGHT —

Diane Marie Dudzinski, PhD, is a biology educator who dedicated nearly five decades to research and teaching before her retirement in 2012. Inspired by her academic mentors as an undergraduate at Gannon University, she earned Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Fordham University. She began her career at Villa Maria College and taught at institutions, including Ladycliff College, Pace University, and Manhattan College, before joining the faculty at the College of Santa Fe, rising to become a full professor and chair of the Department of Science and Mathematics. Dr. Dudzinski spent the last 21 years of her career as a professor of biology at Washington State Community College, teaching ecology, marine and environmental biology, and microbiology. A former NASA fellow and grantee of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, Dr. Dudzinski has been published extensively. She is proud to have been the first woman to participate in a joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. Bering Sea Expedition and to have contributed to closed environment life support systems research used on the International Space Station. Dr. Dudzinski credits her success to the support of her peers and mentors throughout her career and remains grateful for their impact.