Anthony J. F. Griffiths is a Professor of Botany, Emeritus, at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on developmental genetics using the model fungus Neurospora crassa. He has served as president of the Genetics Society of Canada and two terms as Secretary-General of the International Genetics Federation. He was recently awarded the Fellow Medal of the International Mycological Association.

Susan R. Wessler is a Distinguished Professor of Genetics in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at the University of California, Riverside. Her research focuses on plant transposable elements and their contribution to gene and genome evolution. Dr. Wessler was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998. As a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, she developed and teaches a series of dynamic genome courses in which undergraduates can experience the excitement of scientific discovery.

Sean B. Carroll is Vice President for Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Carroll is a leader in the field of evolutionary developmental biology and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2007. He is also the author of Brave Genius, Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The Making of the Fittest, and Remarkable Creatures, a finalist for the National Book Award in Nonfiction in 2009.

John Doebley is a Professor of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He studies the genetics of crop domestication using the methods of population and quantitative genetics. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2003 and served as the president of the American Genetic Association in 2005. He teaches general genetics and evolutionary genetics at the University of Wisconsin.