Joshua P. Gray has been named the recipient of the 2018 Society of Toxicology (SOT) Undergraduate Educator Award. Dr. Gray received his PhD in pathobiology from Pennsylvania State University in 2003. He joined the US Coast Guard Academy faculty in 2008 and has spent the past decade teaching undergraduate courses in toxicology, chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and the science of terrorism to cadets who
will become officers in the US Coast Guard. Cadets are active researchers in Dr. Gray’s laboratory, and many are co-authors on manuscripts related to this work. His two research programs are investigating pancreatic beta cells and mechanisms of toxicity and utilizing biocides to inhibit microbial-influenced corrosion and materials degradation.
As a postdoctoral fellow of the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Dr. Gray designed the “Chemical and Biological Weapons” Bryne Seminar course, which introduces college freshman to the special interests of faculty members. He also mentored undergraduate students in research projects and taught several guest lectures to students at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. Dr. Gray also currently serves as an adjunct graduate faculty member for the University of Maryland University College Biosecurity and Biodefense Master's Program and the Lehigh University Chemistry Master's Program.
Dr. Gray was named a fellow of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE) in 2015 and serves as a PULSE ambassador. PULSE is an organization, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which works to transform undergraduate life science education at the departmental level. Most recently, he co-moderated a conference of 21 institutions to facilitate their departmental transformation to incorporate evidence-based teaching practices, such as those spearheaded by the NSF’s Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education initiative.
An SOT member since 2001, Dr. Gray has been very active in SOT educational efforts. In 2013, he was appointed to the Undergraduate Education Subcommittee, and he served as co-chair and chair. He led the production of the Eminent Toxicologist Lecture Series, resulting in recordings of 14 expert toxicologists discussing their areas of expertise at a level appropriate for undergraduate students and a global audience. He and the committee also produced a recorded webinar series for undergraduate educators on topics from career development to laboratory exercises.