Biology Lecture with Tyrone B. Hayes, PhD

Join renowned biologist and environmental health scholar Tyrone B. Hayes, PhD, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, to explore how steroid hormones shape amphibian development, and how environmental contaminants (particularly pesticides) contribute to global amphibian declines. Dr. Hayes also investigates the negative impact of pesticides on public health, focusing on the risk to ethnic minorities and lower socio-economic communities. This lecture — named in honor of Dr. Mary E. Humphreys, late professor emerita of biology — invites attendees to engage with urgent questions at the intersection of science, health, and justice. This lecture series was established in 1992 in honor of Dr. Mary Humphreys, the late professor emerita of biology, who served on the faculty at Mary Baldwin from 1943 to 1968. As one-half of the college’s two-woman biology department for most of her tenure, Humphreys taught general biology, botany, and genetics. She was a strong role model for her students, and her friends created this lecture to bring prominent scientists to campus to talk about their work and inspire in others Humphreys’ dedication to the field of biology. About the Speaker: Tyrone B Hayes, PhD, was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina where he developed his love for biology. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1989 and his PhD from the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley in 1993. After completing his PhD, he began post-doctoral training at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health and the Cancer Research Laboratories at UC Berkeley (funded by the National Science Foundation) , but this training was truncated when he was hired as an assistant professor at UC Berkeley in 1994. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2000 and to full professor in 2003. Hayes’ research focuses on developmental endocrinology with an emphasis on evolution and environmental regulation of growth and development. For the last twenty years, the role of endocrine disrupting contaminants, particularly pesticides, has been a major focus. Hayes is interested in the impact of chemical contaminants on environmental health and public health, with a specific interest in the role of pesticides in global amphibian declines and environmental justice concerns associated with targeted exposure of racial and ethnic minorities to endocrine disruptors and the role that exposure plays in health care disparities. Hayes is currently serving as Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and holds the Judy Chandler Webb Distinguished Chair for Innovative Teaching and Research. He is an elected fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. MBU Signature Events are a new series of public lectures, performances, and community experiences hosted by Mary Baldwin University and designed to engage both the campus and broader Staunton communities. Events are sponsored by one of MBU’s four academic “Neighborhoods,” interdisciplinary communities that unite students and faculty around shared interests in areas like business and technology, health and science, education and society, and creativity and design. Signature Events bring the Mary Baldwin Signature to life — a distinctive academic and residential model that emphasizes purpose-driven learning, community connection, and real-world readiness. Learn more at marybaldwin. edu/signature.