Roughgarden worked as an instructor and Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts Boston from 1970 to 1972. In 1972 she joined the faculty of the Department of Biology at Stanford University. After becoming full professor she retired in 2011, and became Emeritus Professor. She founded and directed the Earth Systems Program at Stanford and has received awards for service to undergraduate education. In 2012 she moved to Hawaii, where she became an adjunct professor at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology. In her academic career, Roughgarden advised 20 Ph.D and 15 postdoctoral students.
Writing and research
Roughgarden has authored books and over 180 scientific articles. In addition to a textbook on ecological and evolutionary theory in 1979, Roughgarden has carried out ecological field studies with Caribbean lizards and with barnacles and their larvae along the California coast. In her 2004 book, Evolution’s Rainbow, Joan analyzes how biology can influence sexuality and gender identity and emphasizes the substantial diversity within categories like gay, lesbian, and trans. The main point of her book is to be a critique to Darwin's theory of sexual selection. An article published by her lab on these ideas received criticism in the pages of the journal Science. Forty scientists produced ten critical letters, some of which were vitriolic. However, Roughgarden, quoted as being "not altogether surprised" by the volume of dissent, argued that her team had replied to most of the criticisms. In her 2009 book The Genial Gene, the case against sexual selection theory is continued and social-selection theory presented as an alternative. It lists 26 phenomena not explained by current sexual-selection theory that are better explained by social selection. According to Roughgarden, sexual selection theory derives from a view of natural behavior predicated on the selfish-gene concept, competition and deception, whereas the social-selection theory derives from teamwork, honesty, and genetic equality. She continues to make analytical studies that social selection is a more credible explanation in terms of population as a whole, as sexual selection is confined to interaction between individuals. Roughgarden has written on the relationship between Christianity and science. Her book Evolution and Christian Faith: Reflections of an Evolutionary Biologist presents scripture passages that emphasize her belief that the Bible does not conflict with evolutionary biology and relates Christianity and evolution by asserting that all life is interconnected, as members of a faith community are connected. Roughgarden opposes the theories of creationism and intelligent design, but asserts her belief in God's involvement in evolution. She attended and was a speaker at the symposium in November 2006.
Awards and honors
Stonewall Book Award, 2005
Dinkelspiel Award for Undergraduate Teaching, Stanford University, in 1995
Roughgarden has served as associate editor of several academic journals, including Philosophy and Theory in Biology, American Naturalist, Oecologia, and Theoretical Population Biology. She was the Vice-Chair and Chair of Theoretical Ecology Section of the Ecological Society of America during 2002–2003. She has served on the Nonprofit Organization Board for the Oceanic Society, the EPA Science Advisory Board Committee on Valuating the Protection of Ecological Systems and Services, and the science advisory boards of the Pacific Ocean Conservation Network, and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
Selected bibliography
Roughgarden, J. The Genial Gene: Deconstructing Darwinian Selfishness. Hardcover ed. University of California Press, 2009
Roughgarden, J. Evolution and Christian Faith: Reflections of an Evolutionary Biologist. Hardcover ed. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2006.
Roughgarden, J. Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender and Sexuality in Nature and People. Berkeley CA: Univ. of California Press, 2004.
Roughgarden, J. Primer of Ecological Theory. 1st ed. Prentice Hall, 1997.
Roughgarden, J. Anolis Lizards of the Caribbean: Ecology, Evolution and Plate Tectonics. Hardcover ed. Oxford Univ. Press, 1995.
Roughgarden, J, May, R. M., and Levin, S. A.. Perspectives in Ecological Theory. Oxford Univ. Press, 1995.
Roughgarden, J. Theory of Population Genetics and Evolutionary Ecology: an Introduction. 1st ed. Prentice Hall, 1979.
Simpson, Layne A. Gender and Society, vol. 19, no. 3, 2005, pp. 425–426. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30044605.
