Barbara Beltz
Barbara Beltz is the Susan M. Hallowell and Ruby Frances Howe Farwell professor of biology. She teaches courses in cell biology and in neuroscience. Prior to joining the faculty in 1987, she was a postdoctoral fellow and instructor in the Neurobiology Department at Harvard Medical School. She received a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University.
Dr. Beltz's research focuses on the development of the nervous system. Her primary interests revolve around the environmental and physiological controls over neuronal birth and death, and particularly how the day-night cycle influences the life-long turnover of cells in the nervous system. Her most recent experiments elucidate how circadian rhythms and the neurotransmitter serotonin guide neuronal proliferation and differentiation. She maintains active collaborations with Dr. Steffen Harzsch (University of Ulm, Germany) and Dr. Silvana Allodi (Federal University of Rio de Janiero, Brazil) and was the Maren Fellow at the Mt. Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Salisbury Cove, Maine, in the summers of 2004-06. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Fogarty Foundation, Maren Foundation, and by Brachman Hoffman and Staley Fellowships from Wellesley College.
Dr. Beltz's work has resulted in the publication of more than 70 research articles, as well as two books that integrate research and teaching: Beltz, B.S. and Burd, G.D., "Immunocytochemical Techniques: Principles and Practice" (Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1989; and, Paul C.A., Beltz B.S., and Berger-Sweeney J., eds., "Discovering Neurons: The Experimental Basis of Neuroscience" (Cold Spring Harbor Press, 1997). In 2004, Dr. Beltz was elected a member of the Corporation of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Mass. She also serves on the External Advisory Committee for INBRE (Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence) grant for the state of Maine, and as a consultant for the Sherman Fairchild Foundation.
Her life away from Wellesley focuses on her husband, Jerry; three children, Christopher (Trinity College, '02), Nora (Colby College, '05), and Martha (Hobart and William Smith Colleges, '11); and two dogs, Tazi and Cabal.
Profile last updated: 4/08