Rate My Professor Jennifer Armstrong

Jennifer Armstrong is Professor of Biology and Sidney J. Weinberg, Jr. Chair in Natural Sciences at Scripps College, part of the Keck Science Department in The Claremont Colleges, where she has served on the faculty since 2003. She earned a B.S. from New Mexico State University, a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in collaboration with The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her teaching interests include genetics, cellular biology, introductory biology, epigenetics, and core courses such as Core I and II at Scripps College.

Armstrong's research examines chromatin structure and gene regulation, employing Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. In her lab, students utilize a National Science Foundation-funded confocal laser microscope to study histone proteins on DNA in fruit fly mutants, exploring chromosome maintenance in living cells. She has authored key publications, including "Investigations of CHD1 function in transcription and development of Drosophila melanogaster" (Genetics, 2008), "The Drosophila melanogaster CHD1 chromatin remodeling factor modulates global chromosome structure and counteracts HP1a and H3K9me2" (PLoS One, 2013), "Genetic screens for enhancers of brahma reveal functional interactions between the BRM chromatin-remodeling complex and the delta-notch signal transduction pathway in Drosophila" (Genetics, 2005), "Genetic identification of a network of factors that functionally interact with the nucleosome remodeling ATPase ISWI" (PLoS Genetics, 2008), and "A key role for Chd1 in histone H3 dynamics at the 3' ends of long genes in yeast" (PLoS Genetics, 2012). She has secured four National Science Foundation grants, including a $450,000 three-year award in 2013. Administratively, she has served as Faculty Director of the Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program, Associate Dean of Faculty since 2018, and Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty since 2023. She acts as Institutional Review Board administrator and research integrity officer, oversees fellowship applications, and supports faculty development through workshops and events like Capstone Day. Her honors include the Mary W. Johnson Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching from Scripps College and the G. David Huntoon Senior Teaching Award from Claremont McKenna College.