Senior Scientist C. Drew Harvell, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. She chairs the World Bank Targeted Research Program on Coral Disease and Coral Reef Sustainability and formerly the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis program on the Ecology of Marine Disease. She is a former vice president of the Society of American Naturalists and serves on the editorial board of Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics.

Dr. Harvell received a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Washington in Seattle and a B.Sc. in zoology from the University of Alberta.

Dr. Harvell is recognized for her work on marine diseases and the ecology of marine invertebrates. She has published over 40 papers in the last decade, and over eighty in her career. Currently, the focus of her laboratory group is on the ecology and evolution of coral resistance to disease of which “a subtheme of this work includes evaluating the impacts of a warming climate on coral reef ecosystems.” Dr. Harvell’s analyses and papers have led to the now widespread acceptance that diseases in marine ecosystems are important, particularly in the very climate-sensitive coral reef ecosystems. Her work has received both national and international media exposure.