Dr. Charlotte A. Spencer is a retired Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. She has also served as a faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Spencer got her B.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of British Columbia (Canada) and her Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Alberta (Canada) followed by postdoctoral training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. Her research interests involve the regulation of RNA polymerase II transcription in cancer cells, cells infected with DNA viruses and cells transversing the mitotic phase of the cell cycle. She has taught courses in Genetics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Oncology, at both graduate and undergraduate levels. She has contributed Genetics, Technology and Society essays for several editions of Concepts of Genetics as well as Essentials of Genetics. In addition, she has written booklets in the Exploring Biology series, which are aimed at the undergraduate nonmajors level.