Barry Chess has been teaching microbiology at Pasadena City College for over 15 years. He received his Bachelor s and Master s degrees from California State University, Los Angeles, and did several years of postgraduate work at the University of California, Irvine, where his research focused on the expression of eukaryotic genes involved in the development of muscle and bone. At Pasadena City College, Barry developed a new course in human genetics and helped to institute a biotechnology program. He regularly teaches courses in microbiology, general biology, and genetics, and works with students completing independent research projects in biology and microbiology. Over the past several years, Barry s interests have begun to focus on innovative methods of teaching that lead to greater student understanding. He has written cases for the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science and presented talks at national meetings on the use of case studies in the classroom. In 2009, his laboratory manual, Laboratory Applications in Microbiology: A Case Study Approach, was published. He is thrilled and feels very fortunate to be collaborating with Kathy Talaro, with whom he has worked in the classroom for more than a decade, on this ninth edition. Barry is a member of the American Society for Microbiology and regularly attends meetings in his fields of interest, both to keep current of changes in the discipline and to exchange teaching and learning strategies with others in the field.