Research Areas
The Department of Biology offers graduate programs of study leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Faculty also mentor undergraduate students in research activity. Research in the Department ranges from scales of the gene to the ecosystem, with many faculty bridging sub-disciplines of biology in their areas of interest. Areas of emphasis include:
Cellular and molecular biology:
Dr. Joshua Bloomekatz: fundamental principles underlying cardiovascular morphogenesis and development
Dr. Patrick Curtis: bacterial signaling pathways and prokaryotic development
Dr. Wayne Gray: virology, vaccine development
Dr. Mika Jekabsons: mechanisms of apoptosis, cell physiology and mitochondrial physiology
Dr. Brad Jones: cell differentiation, nervous system development, Drosophila genetics
Dr. Sarah Liljegren: transcriptional networks and cell signaling required for plant development
Dr. Yongjian Qiu: molecular and cellular mechanisms of morphogenetic adaptation to environmental changes in plants
Conservation and restoration biology:
Dr. Stephen Brewer: fire ecology, plant ecology, invasive species
Dr. Richard Buchholz: animal behavior, host-parasite coevolution, conservation biology
Dr. Ryan Garrick: biodiversity conservation, population genetics, phylogeography
Dr. Jason Hoeksema: ecological and evolutionary consequences of species interactions, focusing especially on plants and mycorrhizal fungi
Dr. Brice Noonan: diversity and distributions of tropical organisms
Dr. Glenn Parsons: bycatch reduction, fish/shark physiology and natural history, stress physiology
Dr. Bill Resetarits: community, behavioral, and evolutionary ecology in aquatic systems. Experimental design and analysis
Dr. Beckie Symula: evolutionary biology, color pattern evolution and phylogenetic of frogs
Evolution, biodiversity and systematics:
Dr. Susan Balenger: host-parasite coevolution, disease biology, behavioral plasticity, sexual selection
Dr. Lainy Day: behavioral neuroscience, neuroplasticity, evolution of cognition and motor-learning
Dr. Ryan Garrick: biodiversity conservation, population genetics, phylogeography
Dr. Tammy Goulet: symbiosis and host-symbiont genotypic combinations, marine ecology, coral reefs, coral-algal physiology
Dr. Jason Hoeksema: ecological and evolutionary consequences of species interactions, focusing especially on plants and mycorrhizal fungi
Dr. Erik Hom: synthetic ecology, fungal-algal interactions, evolution of symbiosis and microbial consortia, waste valorization
Dr. Colin Jackson: microbial ecology and diversity, microbiome studies
Dr. Lucile McCook: plant taxonomy
Dr. Brice Noonan: diversity and distributions of tropical organism
Dr. Bill Resetarits: community, behavioral, and evolutionary ecology in aquatic systems. Experimental design and analysis
Dr. Beckie Symula: evolutionary biology, color pattern evolution and phylogenetic of frogs
Dr. Peter Zee: evolution of species interactions; experimental evolution with microbes; eco-evolutionary modelling
Freshwater, marine, and wetland ecology:
Dr. Tammy Goulet: symbiosis and host-symbiont genotypic combinations, marine ecology, coral reefs, coral-algal physiology
Dr. Colin Jackson: microbial ecology and diversity, microbiome studies
Dr. Clifford Ochs: biogeochemistry and plankton ecology, large river ecology
Dr. Glenn Parsons: bycatch reduction, fish/shark physiology and natural history, stress physiology
Dr. Bill Resetarits: community, behavioral, and evolutionary ecology in aquatic systems. Experimental design and analysis
Microbiology:
Dr. Patrick Curtis: bacterial signaling pathways and prokaryotic development
Dr. Wayne Gray: virology, vaccine development
Dr. Erik Hom: synthetic ecology, fungal-algal interactions, evolution of symbiosis and microbial consortia, waste valorization
Dr. Colin Jackson: microbial ecology and diversity, microbiome studies
Neurobiology, behavior and physiology:
Dr. Susan Balenger: host-parasite coevolution, disease biology, behavioral plasticity, sexual selection
Dr. Richard Buchholz: animal behavior, host-parasite coevolution, conservation biology
Dr. Lainy Day: behavioral neuroscience, neuroplasticity, evolution of cognition and motor-learning
Dr. Tammy Goulet: symbiosis and host-symbiont genotypic combinations, marine ecology, coral reefs, coral-algal physiology
Dr. Mika Jekabsons: mechanisms of apoptosis, cell physiology and mitochondrial physiology
Dr. Brad Jones: cell differentiation, nervous system development, Drosophila genetics
Dr. Christopher Leary: endocrine and neural systems underlying animal communication and behavior
Dr. Glenn Parsons: bycatch reduction, fish/shark physiology and natural history, stress physiology
Symbioses and species interactions:
Dr. Susan Balenger: host-parasite coevolution, disease biology
Dr. Stephen Brewer: fire ecology, plant ecology, invasive species
Dr. Richard Buchholz: animal behavior, host-parasite coevolution
Dr. Denis Goulet: coral reef fish ecology, coral-symbiont interactions
Dr. Tammy Goulet: symbiosis and host-symbiont genotypic combinations, marine ecology, coral reefs, coral-algal physiology
Dr. Jason Hoeksema: ecological and evolutionary consequences of species interactions, focusing especially on plants and mycorrhizal fungi
Dr. Erik Hom: synthetic ecology, fungal-algal interactions, evolution of symbiosis and microbial consortia, waste valorization
Dr. Colin Jackson: microbial ecology and diversity, microbiome studies
Dr. Christopher Leary: endocrine and neural systems underlying animal communication and behavior
Dr. Bill Resetarits: community, behavioral, and evolutionary ecology in aquatic systems. Experimental design and analysis
Dr. Peter Zee: evolution of species interactions; experimental evolution with microbes; eco-evolutionary modelling