Helen M. Werner
Assistant Professor of Biology
Pronouns: she/her/hers Email: wernerh@beloit.edu Office: Room 338, Sanger Center for the SciencesI am a bioarchaeologist, physiologist, and molecular biologist with specific interests in human osteology, palaeopathology, and infectious disease. I study the expression of respiratory bacterial infections in skeletal remains and how the marginalization of a community compounds the intensity of disease.
I primarily teach classes on human biology, including anatomy and physiology, biometrics, and histology and pathology. I encourage my students to focus on curiosity and research methods, so that whether or not they’re “right,” they will have the skills that they need to succeed as scientists. I love learning more about my students’ lives and finding ways to connect human biology to the ways that they navigate the world. I am passionate about research and can trace this passion to my own undergraduate experiences in research labs. I love involving students in my research and encouraging them to find their own areas of inquiry.
My research and teaching keeps me busy, but in my downtime I am a voracious reader, an occasional embroiderer, and a lover of giant fluffy dogs. I run a nonprofit that helps Wisconsin families who have faced pregnancy or infant loss called The Marigold Foundation, and I love sharing the joy of science with my children.
