Dr. Winston received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She is Curator Emerita at the Virginia Museum of Natural History and a Research Associate of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, based at the Smithsonian Marine Station, Fort Pierce, Florida.

 

Much of her research has involved descriptive taxonomic and ecological studies of marine bryozoan species and higher taxa, especially those from the tropical western Atlantic. Her other research interests include marine biodiversity conservation, history of invertebrate zoology, and taxonomic procedure and nomenclature. Dr. Winston is a member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Her reference textbook, Describing Species: Practical Taxonomic Procedure for Biologists, published in 1999, has helped many young biologists to describe their first new species.