Dr. Rebecca Parales is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of California, Davis.  She received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Connecticut, and her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Cornell University. Her research interests include bacterial degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons and man-made environmental pollutants; and bacterial chemotaxis to pollutants and man-made chemicals.