The first time I met Marla, she was a 14-year-old girl addressing a group of much older girls about an upcoming charity drive to solicit donations for a children’s orphanage overseas. I was immediately struck by the intelligence, poise, confidence, and passion with which she spoke. The group of 25 teenaged girls, normally chatty and distracted, were absolutely captivated by the message she delivered. The second time we spoke, I was her uncomfortable audience of one, absorbing a brief and well-prepared lecture about integrity and unintended consequences for hapless teenaged boys who fail to keep their word regarding promised phone calls. Intelligence, poise, confidence, passion for her interests, and an extremely convincing lecturer. Fast forward 50 years, these same qualities would withstand the test of time, ultimately defining her as a researcher, mentor, teacher, and research collaborator. Like most budding biologists, Marla’s love for science began at a very early age. She recalls spending hours by the stream near her childhood home, curiously observing the tadpoles, frogs, and grasshoppers, marching to the beat of her own drum. By the time we met in high school, her academic focus was divided between music and the sciences. She liked to think of herself as a budding violist but I believe much of the appeal was being part of a collaboration that could create ensemble music. But by the time she completed her BSc, her passion was biology, particularly the field of behavior genetics.
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