Dr. Jo Handelsman received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1984 and joined the faculty of the UW-Madison Department of Plant Pathology in 1985 where she is currently a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor.  Her research focuses on the genetic and functional diversity of microorganisms in soil and insect gut communities.  The Handelsman lab has concentrated on discovery and biological activity of novel antibiotics from cultured and uncultured bacteria and has contributed to the pioneering of a new technique, called metagenomics, which facilitates the genomic analysis of assemblages of uncultured microorganisms.  Handelsman is studying the midgut of the gypsy moth to understand the basis for resistance and susceptibility of microbial communities to invasion, developing it as a model for the microbial community in the human gut.  In addition to her passion for understanding the secret lives of bacteria, Dr. Handelsman is dedicated to improving science education and the advancement of women in research universities.  She is Director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute New Generation Program for Scientific Teaching, which is dedicated to teaching graduate students and postdocs the principles and practices of teaching and mentoring, and co-Director of the National Academies Summer Institute for Undergraduate Education in Biology, which is a collaborative venture between HHMI and the National Academies that aims to train a nationwide network of faculty who are outstanding teachers and mentors.   Dr. Handelsman is co-Director of the Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute (WISELI), at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose mission is to understand the impediments to the successful recruitment and advancement of women faculty in the sciences and develop and study interventions intended to reduce the barriers.