Bio professor dies

By Josh Rutenberg     10/8/09 7:00pm

Former biology professor Lisa Marie Meffert died suddenly Sept. 29. She was 49 years old. Meffert, who received her doctoral degree in 1988 from the University of Houston, instructed in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Rice until 2008.

Meffert earned her undergraduate degree in biological sciences from Purdue University and UH in 1982. After completing her doctorate. in the Department of Biology at UH, Meffert served as a faculty member at UH until 2000, when she joined the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at Rice until 2008.

In her time at both universities, Meffert researched topics in the fields of quantitative genetics, speciation, sexual selection, animal behavior and conservation biology. Many of her experiments dealt with investigating complex traits of common houseflies, including mating behavior, morphology, selection and inbreeding.

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Meffert did not confine herself to her research. In conjunction with the Houston Zoo and Rice University Consortium in Conservation Biology, Meffert set up a collaboration that included undergraduate and graduate students. The collaboration was the first to allow students to receive research credit in ecology and evolutionary biology outside of a laboratory.

"She was very much loved by students," Kathleen Matthews, former Wiess dean of natural sciences, said. "The students she taught appreciated her enthusiasm and dedication to them."

Many students and faculty said they were greatly impacted by Meffert during her time at Rice. Hanszen College honored Meffert as an outstanding and distinguished faculty associate from 2001-03. But her work was not always purely academic: She also spoke at the Willy Week Beer Debates in 2007.

"She's one of the more energetic professors I've had at Rice," Baker College senior Connor Hollowwa said. "She always had a story for us about what was new in biology."

A celebration of Meffert's life will be held tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the Rothko Chapel at 3900 Yupon Street. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or to a charity of one's choice.

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