Marvalee Wake is a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA. As a specialist in biology, Prof. Wake’s research includes evolutionary morphology and development; biology of the gymnophione amphibians; reproductive biology of amphibians, fishes and reptiles, especially the evolution of viviparity; phylogenetic reconstruction; patterns of evolution; biodiversity science; and integrative biology. She has written and edited 3 books and more than 230 research papers. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She has received the Berkeley Citation, a Certificate of Recognition from Costa Rica, the Fellows’ Medal of CAS and the IUBS Award for Meritorious Contribution.