Ernest Everett Just (1883-1941) was an African American biologist of international standing who studied fertilization and development in marine invertebrates. Perhaps best known for his discovery of the wave of negativity that sweeps over the egg upon fertilization, E. E. Just also was the first to associate cell surface changes with stages of embryonic development. He was deeply familiar with the natural history of the marine animals whose eggs he studied. His knowledge of natural settings led him to emphasize the importance of using laboratory conditions that closely match those in nature.

Regarded around the world as an expert in the handling of marine invertebrate eggs and embryos, Just devised a set of “indices of development” that allowed him to predict with a high degree of certainty whether or not a particular fertilized egg would develop normally. Based on his more than thirty years of work, he came to believe that it was the cell surface and the structured layer below it, the ectoplasm, that played the most critical roles in development, and in heredity and evolution. He promoted a holistic view of cells and organisms in opposition to the gene-centric view that was becoming more prevalent with the rise of genetics. Just’s incisive critique of genetic reductionism finds echoes in contemporary multiscale, systems approaches in biology. He also speculated on the relationship between developmental and evolutionary mechanisms in a manner that resonates with contemporary evolutionary-developmental biology.

This symposium sought to draw attention to Ernest E. Just and his contributions to biology by bringing together a group of distinguished scientists from areas of research in cell and developmental biology and ecology that all relate in some way to Just and his work. The timing and location of the symposium were significant: the year 2008 is the 125^th anniversary of Just’s birth, and Just was a faculty member at Howard University throughout his scientific career.