Markow was appointed a professor of zoology at
ASU in 1990. In 1993 she initiated the Minority Access to Research Careers program, supported by NIH, to support students from underrepresented groups pursue careers in biosciences. She served as Director of the
National Science Foundation Program in Population Biology. In 1995 she was awarded a
Fulbright Program fellowship, which allowed her to pass a semester at the
Monterrey Institute of Technology, Campus Guaymas, in
Sonora, where she conducted long-term studies on natural populations of cactophilic
Drosophila. At Arizona State University she became Regents Professor, the highest honour bestowed upon a faculty member. During her last three years at
Arizona State University, she served as
editor-in-chief of the journal
Evolution. In 1999, Markow moved to the
University of Arizona in Tucson as Regents’ Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Director of the Center for Insect Science. Upon moving to the
University of Arizona, she moved the National Drosophila Species Stock Center to Tucson, establishing annual workshops, with Patrick O’Grady of
Cornell University, on the use of species other than
D. melanogaster for research. Markow founded the
Drosophila Species Genome Consortium, the genomes of 12
Drosophila species were sequenced, assembled, annotated, which expanded the genetic resources available to the research community. Markow joined
University of California, San Diego in 2008, where she was appointed Amylin Chair in Life Sciences and continued as Director of the
Drosophila Species Stock Center which moved with her to UCSD. In 2012 she joined the National Laboratory for the Genomics of Biodiversity in
Mexico, which allowed her research alongside participating in the training of Mexican graduate students. Since 2013 she has served as one of Mexico's
Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI III). Her research recently has focussed upon use of ecological diverse
Drosophila species as a models to understand public health problems such as
diabetes and
obesity. In addition to her studies of ecological and evolutionary genomics of
Drosophila, she undertook, with funding from the World Wildlife Fund, studies of the genetics and genomics of
monarch butterflies in
Mexico. As of 2025, Markow is the Amylin Chair in Life Sciences Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego.
Havasupai DNA study In the early 1990s, after high rates of diabetes significantly affected the population of the Grand Canyon-based
Havasupai Indian tribe, Markow and ASU colleague social anthropologist John Martin embarked on a study to look for genetic causes of the disease. Over 200 volunteers from the tribe signed a broad consent form stating that they were donating blood samples to “study the causes of behavioral/medical disorders”. Hand and fingerprints were also taken for the study. The tribe also issued a banishment order forbidding any researchers from ASU from entering the reservation. Markow defended her research methods and attributed the tribe's concerns to a misunderstanding of how genetic research works, as well as a possible language barrier in granting broad permission to use the DNA. • 2005
YWCA USA Women on the Move Honoree • 2006 Elected President of the
Society for the Study of Evolution • 2007
Arizona State University Women's Plaza of Honour • 2008 Elected Fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science • 2012
Genetics Society of America George Beadle Award Selected publications Her publications include: • • • • == References ==