Michele B. Price, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

Associate Teaching Professor

Michele B. Price, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

Associate Teaching Professor

Dr. Michele B. Price is an associate teaching professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell, where she has taught since 2016. She holds both a master’s and a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her teaching focuses on the relationship between form and function in invertebrate and vertebrate animals, and she integrates research-based, hands on learning throughout her courses. Price has mentored numerous undergraduate research projects examining insect biodiversity in the restored North Creek Wetlands on campus, St. Edward State Park (in collaboration with the Environmental Education and Research Center), and other Pacific Northwest ecosystems.

Education

  • University of Wisconsin – Madison, WI, USA
    • Ph.D. – Entomology
    • M.S. – Entomology

Courses

  • B BIO 260 The Diversity of Sex
  • B BIO 308 Entomology
  • B BIO 351 Principles of Anatomy and Physiology I
  • B BIO 495 Investigative Biology – Insect Biodiversity

Teaching Interests

Dr. Michele Price is passionate about exploring the outdoors and fascinated by nearly all living organisms, especially the insects. She teaches courses that examine the relationship between form and function in both invertebrate and vertebrate animals, encouraging students to see how structure shapes life’s diversity. Her teaching emphasizes hands on, inquiry based learning in a challenging yet inclusive environment, helping students build meaningful connections to the natural world.

Research and Scholarship Interests

Dr. Price’s research centers on the systematics of Coleoptera, with a particular focus on beetles in the families Endomychidae (handsome fungus beetles) and Nitidulidae (sap beetles). Her work integrates species morphology, geographic distributions, natural history traits (including habitat and plant associations), and phylogenetics to better understand the ecological and evolutionary processes shaping present day biodiversity. She is deeply committed to involving students in authentic research experiences. At the University of Washington Bothell, she has mentored undergraduate projects investigating invertebrate communities in the restored North Creek Wetlands on campus, St. Edward State Park through collaboration with the Environmental Education and Research Center (EERC), and other ecosystems across the Pacific Northwest.

① used to denote student authors

Book Chapters

  • Price, M.B. 2027. Smicripidae (Palmetto Beetles). Beetles of Canada and the United States, CRC Press of the Taylor & Francis Group. (in press)
  • Price, M. B. 2002. Family 78: Smicripidae (Palmetto Beetles), pp. 316-318. In R. H. Arnett, Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley, and J. H. Frank (eds.), American Beetles, Vol. 2. CRC Press, Boca Raton FL.

Presentations (Selected)

  • Price, M. B. 2025. “Exploring Insects at St. Edward State Park: A Fusion of Research, Teaching, and Discovery.” Invited Speaker at the SCARAB monthly meeting via Zoom (October 27, 2025).
  • Price, M. B. 2024. “Exploration of Cantharidin-Orienting Arthropods in the Pacific Northwest: Integration of Research, Teaching, & Learning.” Invited Speaker at Western Washington University, Biology Department Seminar Series (May 1, 2024).

Posters (Selected)

  • Kimia Majidi①, Van Nguyen①, Rana Yavarzadeh① and M. B. Price. 2024. Exploration of A Potentially New Canthariphilous Arthropod. Poster presented at the Entomological Society of America. Pacific Branch Annual Meeting, Waikoloa, Hawaii (April 16, 2024).
  • Edwin Itune①, Jeremiah Mwasyeba①, and M. B. Price. 2022. Survey of Cantharidin Orienting Insect Communities at St. Edward State Park. Poster presented at the University of Washington-Bothell STEM Autumn 2022 Symposium & Capstone (December 16, 2022).
  • Acosta, C.①, M. B. Price, & C. Chang. 2019. Boom and Bust: Successional Shifts and New Additions to the Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Community on Mount St. Helens. Poster presented at the 22nd Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at University of Washington -Seattle & the Research Rendezvous at University of Washington-Bothell.

Selected Grants & Fellowships

  • Environmental Career Preparedness (EnCAP) Program (2025 & 2026)
  • UW Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL) Faculty Research Fellowship (2024)
  • University of Washington-Bothell Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement Fellowship (DECE) (2020 & 2021)

UW Bothell Club Advisor of the Year (2017-2018)