Linda Rayor, a senior research associate of arthropod behavior at Cornell University, has an infectious passion for arachnids. She teaches a much-loved course in spider biology at Cornell, in which her engaging teaching style seldom fails to turn spider-fearing arachnophobes into inquisitive and enthusiastic arachnophiles.

Rayor's teachings are not restricted to the university lecture hall. For more than a decade, Rayor has led a highly successful outreach program that empowers students to talk about biology and entomology in classrooms, clubs, and community groups. Her teachings also extend to the web, where Cornell University has also posted a series of videos on spider biology in which Linda Rayor shares her spider biology knowledge and unique teaching style with the online community.