Biology Professor Dr. Sandra Petersen has won a 1998 College Distinguished Teacher Award. These awards, separate from the Distinguished Teaching Award made by students, recognize faculty members' contributions to the advancement of undergraduate teaching across campus, efforts in involving undergrads in faculty research projects, and performance in classroom teaching.   Just prior to joining the Biology Department, Dr. Petersen held the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia. While there, she received an award for Distinguished Teaching in Histology.
Sandy has an outstanding research program with currently over $2 million in research support from the NIH and NSF. She has two major projects. Sandy hopes to elucidate how the brain, pituitary gland and ovary communicate in order to insure that the signal from the brain that ovulation should commence is sent only when the follicles are mature, and she is also trying to gain insight into the disruptive role of environmental pollutants in the control of ovulation by the brain. Sandy's lab is much sought after by postdoctoral and graduate students, and she routinely sponsors undergraduate research.