Jan Robert Factor, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
School of Natural and Social Science

Office: Natural Sciences bldg, room 2016
Tel: (914) 251-6659
Fax: (914) 251-663
Email: jan.factor@purchase.edu

Dr. Jan Robert Factor has taught generations of Purchase students to use sophisticated microscopes through courses in transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and has mentored their use in undergraduate research projects. He developed, coordinates, and teaches in Science in Modern World, the freshman program for non-science majors at Purchase College. Dr. Factor is editor of the standard reference text on the American lobster, Biology of the Lobster Homarus americanus (Academic Press, 1995). His research is published in a variety of scientific journals, and he was Associate Editor and member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Morphology (1991-2003). He has a long-standing relationship with the Shoals Marine Laboratory (Cornell University, Appledore Island, Maine), and is course director for the Field Marine Science and Biology of the Lobster courses.

Education 
Ph.D., Zoology, Cornell University (1980);
M.S., Zoology, Cornell University (1977);
B.S., Biology, Brooklyn College (1973).

Positions
Purchase College, State University of New York: Professor of Biology (1994-present); Associate Professor (1989-94); Assistant Professor (1982-89); Director, Purchase College Microscopy Laboratory (1982-present);
Shoals Marine Laboratory (Cornell University): Core Faculty (1981-present), Course Director, Field Marine Science;
Smithsonian Institution: Postdoctoral Fellow, Marine Station, Ft. Pierce, Florida (1979-81);
Cornell University: Lecturer for Invertebrate Zoology, Invertebrate Development, Genetics (1981-82).

Areas of Expertise
Biology of the American lobster, Homarus americanus;
Advanced microscopy (transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy,   fluorescence light microscopy, confocal microscopy);
Invertebrate Biology;
Coastal Marine Biology and Ecology.

Research Interests
Biology of the American lobster, Homarus americanus, including:
Cellular immunity, specifically the removal of foreign particles from the blood by fixed phagocytes of the digestive gland;
Development, functional morphology, histology, and ultrastructure of the digestive system;
Feeding, structure and development of the mouthparts, larval feeding, and the presence and distribution of cycliophoran symbionts.

Courses Taught
Science in the Modern World;
General Biology II (animal evolution and diversity lectures);
Transmission Electron Microscopy and Cell Ultrastructure;
Scanning Electron Microscopy;
Imaging and Analytical Microscopy;
Field Marine Science (at Shoals Marine Laboratory, Maine);
Biology of the Lobster (at Shoals Marine Laboratory, Maine).

Selected Honors
Chair of Biology Program (1991-present).
Presiding Officer of the Faculty (1996-99);
Convener, SUNY Campus Governance Leaders (1997-99);
Journal of Morphology: Associate Editor, Member of Editorial Board (1991-2003).

Professional Societies
The Crustacean Society;
Sigma Xi;
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology;
New York Microscopical Society;
Microscopical Society of America.