Biological Sciences Faculty Research Areas

• Behavior
• Cellular & Developmental Biology
• Ecology & Conservation
• Evolution & Systematics
• Genetics & Genomics
• Molecular Biology
• Morphology & Biomechanics
• Neuroscience
• Physiology
• Quantitative Biology

Behavior

Janet Duerr

• Examining the development and function of the nervous system using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Shawn Kuchta

• The patterns and processes that underlie the origin and maintenance of biodiversity, with a focus on amphibians, reptiles, and odonates

Donald Miles

• Comparative methods, ecomorphology, evolution of locomotor performance, and the selective significance of locomotor performance in lizards and birds

Molly Morris

• The role that female mating preferences and alternative male mating tactics play in the evolution of diverse behaviors, morphologies and new species in swordtail fishes

Cellular & Developmental Biology

Janet Duerr

• Examining the development and function of the nervous system using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Donald Holzschu

• RNA modifications and their impact on bacterial physiology and gene expression

Daewoo Lee

• The molecular and cellular basis of neuronal communication in the central nervous system

Corinne Nielsen

• Genetic regulation of mammalian neurovascular development, physiology and pathophysiology

Tomo Sugiyama

• Mechanisms of DNA homologous recombination and DNA repair

Soichi Tanda

• The genetic and molecular mechanisms of blood cell differentiation in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster

Nathan Weyand

• Works extensively with pathogenic and commensal Neisseria species

Ecology & Conservation

Diego Alvarado-Serrano

• Using population genomic approaches to assess the influence of environmental change on species’ evolutionary dynamics

Sean Giery

• Exploring the evolutionary origins and ecological consequences of phenotypic diversity in small vertebrates

Kelly Johnson

• Insect physiological ecology, chemical ecology of insect-plant interactions, nutritional physiology, environmental toxicology and responses of aquatic macroinvertebrates to acid mine drainage

Donald Miles

• Comparative methods, ecomorphology, evolution of locomotor performance, & the selective significance of locomotor performance in lizards and birds

Shawn Kuchta

• The patterns and processes that underlie the origin and maintenance of biodiversity, with a focus on amphibians, reptiles, and odonates

Molly Morris

• The role that female mating preferences and alternative male mating tactics play in the evolution of diverse behaviors, morphologies and new species in swordtail fishes

Willem Roosenburg

• Investigating the evolution of life history traits and the conservation biology of long-lived organism

Marketa Zimova

• Ongoing rapid environmental transformation exposes organisms to novel stressors which can, in the absence of adaptation, contribute to population declines and extinction.

Evolution & Systematics

Diego Alvarado-Serrano

• Using population genomic approaches to assess the influence of environmental change on species’ evolutionary dynamics

Sean Giery

• Exploring the evolutionary origins and ecological consequences of phenotypic diversity in small vertebrates

Shawn Kuchta

• The patterns and processes that underlie the origin and maintenance of biodiversity, with a focus on amphibians, reptiles, and odonates

Donald Miles

• Comparative methods, ecomorphology, evolution of locomotor performance, elective significance of locomotor performance in lizards and birds

Molly Morris

• The role that female mating preferences and alternative male mating tactics play in the evolution of diverse behaviors, morphologies and new species in swordtail fishes

Willem Roosenburg

• Investigating the evolution of life history traits and the conservation biology of long-lived organisms

Marketa Zimova

• Ongoing rapid environmental transformation exposes organisms to novel stressors which can, in the absence of adaptation, contribute to population declines and extinction.

Genetics & Genomics

Diego Alvarado-Serrano

• Using population genomic approaches to assess the influence of environmental change on species’ evolutionary dynamics

Ronan Carroll

• Gene regulation and molecular mechanisms of disease causation by Staphylococcus aureus

Janet Duerr

• Examining the development and function of the nervous system using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Shawn Kuchta

• The patterns and processes that underlie the origin and maintenance of biodiversity, with a focus on amphibians, reptiles, and odonates

Tomo Sugiyama

• Mechanisms of DNA homologous recombination and DNA repair

Daewoo Lee

• The molecular and cellular basis of neuronal communication in the central nervous system.

Corinne Nielsen

• Genetic regulation of mammalian neurovascular development, physiology and pathophysiology

Soichi Tanda

• The genetic and molecular mechanisms of blood cell differentiation in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster

Nathan Weyand

• Works extensively with pathogenic and commensal Neisseria species

Molecular Biology

Ronan Carroll

• Gene regulation and molecular mechanisms of disease causation by Staphylococcus aureus

Janet Duerr

• Examining the development and function of the nervous system using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Donald Holzschu

• RNA modifications and their impact on bacterial physiology and gene expression

Daewoo Lee

• The molecular and cellular basis of neuronal communication in the central nervous system

Corinne Nielsen

• Genetic regulation of mammalian neurovascular development, physiology and pathophysiology

Tomo Sugiyama

• Mechanisms of DNA homologous recombination and DNA repair

Soichi Tanda

• The genetic and molecular mechanisms of blood cell differentiation in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster

Nathan Weyand

• Works extensively with pathogenic and commensal Neisseria species

Morphology & Biomechanics

Sean Giery

• Exploring the evolutionary origins and ecological consequences of phenotypic diversity in small vertebrates

Scott Hooper

• How animals generate rhythmic motor patterns such as walking, swimming, and flying at all levels from individual neurons to neural networks to muscle response to movement

Donald Miles

• Comparative methods, ecomorphology, evolution of locomotor performance, & the selective significance of locomotor performance in lizards and birds

Neuroscience

Mitchell Day

• Neural coding of sensory stimuli; Auditory neuroscience; Neural mechanisms of sound localization; Computational modeling; Effect of hearing loss on the central auditory system

Janet Duerr

• Examining the development and function of the nervous system using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Daewoo Lee

• The molecular and cellular basis of neuronal communication in the central nervous system

Scott Hooper

• We study how animals generate rhythmic motor patterns such as walking, swimming, and flying at all levels from individual neurons to neural networks to muscle response to movement

Corinne Nielsen

• Genetic regulation of mammalian neurovascular development, physiology and pathophysiology

Physiology

Mitchell Day

• Neural coding of sensory stimuli; Auditory neuroscience; Neural mechanisms of sound localization; Computational modeling; Effect of hearing loss on the central auditory system

Donald Miles

• Comparative methods, ecomorphology, evolution of locomotor performance, & the selective significance of locomotor performance in lizards and birds

Kelly Johnson

• Insect physiological ecology, chemical ecology of insect-plant interactions, nutritional physiology, environmental toxicology and responses of aquatic macroinvertebrates to acid mine drainage

Daewoo Lee

• The molecular and cellular basis of neuronal communication in the central nervous system

Corinne Nielsen

• Genetic regulation of mammalian neurovascular development, physiology and pathophysiology

Quantitative Biology

Diego Alvarado-Serrano

• Using population genomic approaches to assess the influence of environmental change on species’ evolutionary dynamics

Sean Giery

• Exploring the evolutionary origins and ecological consequences of phenotypic diversity in small vertebrates

Mitchell Day

• Neural coding of sensory stimuli; Auditory neuroscience; Neural mechanisms of sound localization; Computational modeling; Effect of hearing loss on the central auditory system

Scott Hooper

• How animals generate rhythmic motor patterns such as walking, swimming, and flying at all levels from individual neurons to neural networks to muscle response to movement

Donald Miles

• Comparative methods, ecomorphology, evolution of locomotor performance, & the selective significance of locomotor performance in lizards and birds

Willem Roosenburg

• Investigating the evolution of life history traits and the conservation biology of long-lived organisms