Robert A. Desharnais, Ph.D. is a professor of Biology at California State University, Los Angeles, where he teaches courses in introductory biology, biometrics, genetics, population genetics, ecology, and population modeling. He is currently Director for Biological Science of the Electronic Desktop Project, an NSF- and CSU-funded project with the goal of using information technology to improve science education. He received a B.A. in biology from the University of Massachusetts in Boston and an M.S. and Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Rhode Island, Kingston. His current research includes the study of nonlinear dynamics and chaos theory in population ecology and the dynamics of intertidal mussel communities.

Jeffrey R. Bell, Ph.D. is a professor of Biology at California State University, Chico, where he teaches courses in genetics, introductory biology, evolution, and molecular biology. He received a B.S. in biochemistry and biophysics from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Southern California. His research interest is in the molecular mechanisms that control development of animals and in the role that these molecular mechanisms have played in evolution