Rodney Mauricio
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Photo shot in a kudzu stand on Riverbend Road
Photo by: Peter Frey
“I didn’t want to be an anonymous student in a big lecture class, and I was trying to figure out ways to carve a little niche into an undergraduate pre-med science major. Because of this connection with my mom [who loved to garden], I always liked plants. There was this botany professor in intro bio, in this class with 500 people. And he was myopic—I don’t believe he could see beyond the first row of the classroom. He was this really stereotypically geeky science professor, and he was so excited about plants that I just decided you know, I like plants, and I really am going to try to focus on that. So I started taking classes in botany and just studying plants.”
—Rodney Mauricio on how he started focusing on plant research during his undergraduate days at Harvard. His current research includes exploring the evolutionary genetics of invasive plants like kudzu.
Associate Professor of Genetics, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
A.B., magna cum laude with highest honors in biology, Harvard University
Ph.D., zoology, Duke University
Provost’s Outstanding Faculty Service Award, 2011
Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award, 2006
Richard B. Russell Award for Undergraduate Teaching, 2005
Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award, 2004