Dr. Joan V. Ruderman President and Director

Marine Biological Laboratory Joan V. Ruderman is the 14th director of the Marine Biological Laboratory and the Marion V. Nelson Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School.



Ruderman has served on the Board of Trustees of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) since 1986. Since 2008, she has been the Speaker of the MBL Corporation and a member of the MBL’s executive committee. Her long affiliation with the MBL began in 1974 when, the summer after receiving her Ph.D., she took the MBL’s Embryology course. She subsequently taught in that course for several years and then, in 1980, returned as a visiting researcher, working at the MBL for most summers thereafter until 2000. Ruderman is best known for her work on the molecular mechanisms that regulate cell division. In the 1980s and 1990s, she conducted pioneering research on cyclins, proteins that drive cells through the cell division cycle. More recently, Ruderman has investigated environmental contaminants that can mimic estrogen, chemicals that may increase the risk of developing breast cancer and other hormone-dependent cancers. Ruderman’s scientific contributions have been recognized by her election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Society for Microbiology, as well as by the New York University/Dart Award in Biotechnology. Among her national leadership roles, she has served on the Scientific Advisory Board of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at M.I.T. and the Medical Advisory Board of Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is an incoming member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Ellison Medical Foundation (2013-).

Cara Santa Maria Science Educator

Cara Santa Maria has dedicated her life to improving science literacy by communicating scientific principles across media platforms. A North Texas native, she currently lives in Los Angeles. Prior to moving to the West coast, Cara taught biology and psychology courses to university undergraduates and high school students in Texas and New York. Her published research has spanned various topics, including clinical psychological assessment, the neuropsychology of blindness, neuronal cell culture techniques, and computational neurophysiology. Cara previously worked as the senior science correspondent for The Huffington Post, where she wrote, produced, and hosted a weekly video series called “Talk Nerdy To Me.” She also co-stars in “Hacking The Planet” and “The Truth About Twisters” on The Weather Channel. Cara has appeared on Larry King Live (CNN), Parker/Spitzer (CNN), Geraldo at Large (Fox News), I Kid (TLC), The War Room (Current TV), The Nerdist (BBC America), The Young Turks (Current TV), and Attack of the Show (G4). She co-produced/hosted a pilot for HBO, and she has been a guest on multiple episodes of StarTalk Radio with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Joe Rogan Experience, and The Nerdist podcasts.

Alan Taylor Senior Editor

The Atlantic Alan Taylor runs the news photo blog “In Focus” for The Atlantic magazine. In 2008, Taylor created the successful photo blog “The Big Picture” for The Boston Globe, which he then ran for two years, picking up two Webby Awards and a SXSW nomination for “Best Blog” along the way. Taylor has played an enormous role in kick-starting the large-photo format blogging trend among news organizations. Formerly a web developer, Taylor combined his love of storytelling and photography with the web skills he’d developed to create a new platform for visual storytelling online. He covers a wide range of subjects, from breaking news and historical topics to culture.