Joyce Whiteley Hawkes, Ph.D., is a biophysicist and cell biologist by training. She completed her doctorate in biophysics at Pennsylvania State University and was a postdoctoral fellow with the National Institutes of Health before settling in Seattle to work in research for the National Marine Fisheries Service, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She is currently a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. After a near-death experience, Joyce embarked on an extensive exploration of spiritual and healing traditions in Western and Eastern cultures