Anne W. Sylvester

Director of Research

Anne W. Sylvester is the Director of Research at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Her role is to oversee the research enterprise through short and long-term strategic planning. The position includes facilitating the success of resident and visiting research programs and research support services, guiding research partnerships, identifying funding opportunities, and coordinating research efforts that align with the MBL’s scientific vision. Dr. Sylvester previously served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation in the Directorate of Biological Sciences after a research and teaching career as a Professor at the University of Wyoming where she directed a continuously funded research program in maize development genetics and genomics. Dr. Sylvester has been active nationally in service to the maize genetics community as a member of the Maize Genome Sequencing Advisory Board, was elected to the Maize Genetics Executive Committee, and has long promoted collaborative research initiatives that develop and distribute genomic resources. Dr. Sylvester was appointed as a Director in the University of Wyoming’s Office of Research to develop a collaborative research and education center.  In this role, she contributed to strategic visioning, successful funding and implementation of a new statewide center focused on environmental hydrology and geophysics. Sylvester received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington where she conducted graduate research at the UW Friday Harbor Marine Laboratory. Sylvester received postdoctoral fellowships in plant developmental biology at Stanford University and in maize developmental genetics at the University of California-Berkeley.