Lisa Sardinia grew up in California, Nevada and Washington, moving nine times before graduating from high school. She attended Whitworth University in Spokane and received a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. Then she moved to Bozeman, Montana, where she skied cross-country, climbed mountains, and rafted many rivers. And she also earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology, with a minor in Biochemistry, from Montana State University, studying the replication of coronaviruses. Following graduate school, she was awarded a National Cancer Institute research fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco studying molecular genetics. Then she began a teaching career, first at San Francisco State University, then at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. The west coast called, though, and she moved back to the Bay Area and enrolled at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she earned a J.D. She clerked for a federal district court judge in San Francisco and worked in a patent law office in Palo Alto before coming to Pacific University. At Pacific, she taught a variety of classes in three colleges, from Microbiology to Companion Animal Science in the College of Arts and Sciences, Biochemistry and Genetics in the College of Optometry, and Human Genetics in the Physician Assistant Studies program. Her research with students has spanned a number fields, including the effect of essential oils and plant extracts on the growth of pathogenic bacteria, gene expression in paddlefish, microbiological analysis of freshwater streams in Chehalem Ridge Natural Area and wetlands at Fernhill Wetlands, and identification of native yeasts in samples collected throughout the fermentation process from a local winery. She was co-primary investigator for a $257,000 NIH grant—Faith Forum on Genetics: An ELSI Educational Intervention for Religious Communities. Her public scholarship activities include numerous Science Pub and Science on Tap presentations, as well as presentations to various professional and community groups on stem cell research and ethics, genetic testing, epigenetics, gut microbiota, and the biology of sex and gender. She served as Pacific’s Faculty Athletics Representative for 20 years, including several years as a member of two national NCAA committees. She has been the Pre-Optometry Club advisor, the College of Arts & Sciences faculty chair, and the University Faculty Secretary. She enrolled in two Computer Science classes to prepare for a sabbatical leave spent developing a Bioinformatics major (and taking three Bioinformatics courses at OHSU). She has been the recipient of the Thomas J. and Joyce Holce Endowed Professorship in Science and the S.S. Johnson Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching. She lives on a small farm with her partner, John, her overly exuberant German Shepherd-Husky dog, Shasta, and her absurdly fluffy cat, Arlo. She spends her time on the farm trying to put into practice the principles she learned while earning a certificate in Permaculture Design through Pacific.

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