When the students in Maureen Stanton's evolution and ecology class reached their grassy outdoor "classroom" on Monday afternoon, it soon became clear there was more than just spring in the air.

Instead of her usual funky field clothes, the professor was dressed up in a blue denim shirt and khaki cargo pants. And then there were the waiters in black ties, standing obediently behind a fancily draped table. Stanton's partner, Monica Turner, was helping Stanton's parents, Ginny and Jack Stanton, tour the field where the students are studying plant-herbivore interactions. News reporters and video cameramen began appearing, one after the other.

And then the chancellor, accompanied by the chair of the UC Davis Foundation Board, showed up, called the assembly to order and announced that Stanton had won the 2005 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement. "Yes!" said student Andrew Hamilton, pumping his fist in the air, as he and other students clapped and cheered, and Stanton's family beamed.

The $30,000 prize, funded by the UC Davis Foundation and established in 1988, is believed to be the largest prize of its kind in the nation. The winner is selected on the recommendations of faculty members, students and research peers.

"Teaching at the undergraduate -- and graduate -- level is not all that tough, really, when you have good students. It's a joy," Stanton said. "I'm stunned and incredibly honored by this award."

Stanton allowed a brief time for congratulations, speeches and chocolate cake, then urged the class to get on with their studies. "We have so much to do today," she fretted, herding them off to examine their experimental seedlings. And soon she was off with them, striding through the calf-high grasses and vetch to help with their research.

Innovative instruction

This course, EVE 180, is one example of Stanton's passion for teaching undergraduates. It is an unusual offering for UC Davis or any other university: Over two quarters, two professors guide 20 or fewer juniors and seniors through a typical research experience, from hypothesis to results written for publication. Stanton and her co-teacher, Sharon Strauss, designed the course together.

In nominating Stanton for the UC Davis Prize, Phyllis Wise, the dean of the Division of Biological Sciences, wrote, "She is one of the most lucid and enthusiastic lecturers I have ever known, and no one is better at teaching students how to think critically. At the same time, she ... (has) established a stellar research record in plant evolutionary genetics."

Michael Chapman, the chair of the UC Davis Foundation Board, said, "As dedicated supporters of higher education, the Trustees of the UC Davis Foundation take great pride in recognizing Professor Stanton's extraordinary scholarship and gifted teaching by awarding her the 2005 UC Davis Prize. As her colleagues and students can attest, she exemplifies the very best in higher education."

Stanton has had a passion for nature since her childhood. She was encouraged by her father, an oil-field engineer fascinated by unexplained and unconfirmed phenomena such as UFOs and ESP.

"I owe my dad a lot. Because of him I'm a scientist," Stanton said. "He showed me that our knowledge of the world is incredibly superficial. It was natural for me to ask lots of questions -- and to become a person who is involved in finding the answers."

After earning a doctorate in biology at Harvard University, Stanton's post-doctoral discoveries about the unappreciated importance of male characteristics in flowers launched her into the top ranks of evolutionary ecologists.

Known as simply Mau (pronounced Mo), Stanton joined the UC Davis faculty as an assistant professor of botany. She was 28 -- younger than many of her doctoral students.

Twenty-three years later, "Professor Stanton is a wonderful combination of inspired teacher and stellar researcher," said UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "She brings extraordinary depth and clarity of insight to her classroom and to her field. She effectively engages her students in the actual practice of scientific discovery and inspires them to levels of accomplishment they initially believe beyond their grasp."

Stanton's contributions to the quality of research and teaching at UC Davis extend beyond her own lab and classrooms. In his letter nominating Stanton for the prize, Michael Turelli, the chair of the Department of Evolution and Ecology, said "Professor Stanton has made phenomenal contributions to university service at all levels."

In July she will succeed Turelli as department chair. She served as the "dynamic and extraordinarily productive" director of the Center for Population Biology from 1993 to 1998. She frequently serves as an adviser to National Science Foundation panels, and has been a national council member of the Society for the Study of Evolution and vice president of the American Society of Naturalists. She is an elected fellow of the California Academy of Sciences.

Stanton will receive the 2005 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement on Thursday, May 26, at a gala dinner in her honor at Freeborn Hall.

For a slide show featuring Stanton as this year's awardee, see the teaching prize Web page.