Dr Oris Sanjur

Dr. Sanjur’s relationship with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute spans three decades.    In 1989, she was a research assistant for two years working on her undergraduate thesis project. After earning a B.S. in Biology from the University of Panama, she completed a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.  She returned to STRI as a postdoctoral fellow in 1998, studying the relationships between wild and domesticated crops such as squash and pumpkin.    She then spent ten years as manager and researcher of the Molecular Evolution laboratory, after which she took on her most recent role as Associate Director for Science Administration at STRI. In this position, she became responsible for maintaining high standards of scientific operational support for the Institute’s research programs throughout a decade.