Stephen Hilgartner is an associate professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University. His recent book Science on Stage: Expert Advice as Public Drama explores the processes through which the expertise of science advisers is established, contested and maintained. He is currently completing a book on genome mapping and sequencing in the 1990s. Hilgartner is chair of the Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) committee of the Cornell Genomics Initiative; a member of the Council of the Society for Social Studies of Science; and a member of the Steering Group of the Section on Societal Impacts of Science and Engineering of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).