Research

Research in the Department of Biology spans the entire breadth of biology: from ecology and evolution to molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. Our research is supported by a wide array of funding sources, including NIH, NSF and the Welch Foundation.

Many departmental faculty members actively participate in campus-wide interdisciplinary graduate research programs, including Genetics & Genomics, Neuroscience, Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences, and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.

Genetics & Genomics

Rodolfo Aramayo

Aramayo Profile

Meiotic silencing in Neurospora crassa

Deb Bell-Pedersen

Bell-Pedersen Profile | Bell-Pedersen Lab Website

Molecular genetics and genomics of circadian clocks and signaling pathways in fungi

Profile Photo of Mike Benedict

Michael Benedik

Benedik Profile

Molecular genetics of bacteria and microbial biotechnology

Joseph Bernardo

Bernardo Profile

Cryptic speciation; evolution of reproductive isolation; body size evolution; species packing and community assembly; range determinants; comparative physiological ecology; integrative evolutionary ecology

Profile Photo of Heath Blackmon

Heath Blackmon

Blackmon Profile | Blackmon Lab page

Evolutionary genetics and genomics using both theoretical and empirical approaches. Empirical methods used include bioinformatics, phylogenetics, quantitative genetics.

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Mahul Chakraborty

Chakraborty Profile

Molecular basis of phenotypic variation and adaptation, Role of repetitive genome in evolution of sexual dimorphism and sexual conflict

Charles Criscione

Criscione Profile | Criscione Lab Website

Ecology, evolution, and genetics of parasites

Profile Photo of Kira Delmore

Kira Delmore

Delmore Profile | Delmore Lab Webpage

Hybridization, speciation, and behavioral genomics

James Erickson

Erickson Profile

Sex determination in Drosophila; temporal and transcriptional controls in development; RNA silencing mechanisms

L. Rene Garcia

Garcia Profile | Garcia Lab Website

Genetics of behavior and development in C. elegans

Richard Gomer

Gomer Profile | Gomer Lab Website

Tissue size regulation, wound healing, and fibrosing diseases

Paul Hardin

Hardin Profile | Hardin Lab Website

Molecular biology of biological clocks in Drosophila; behavioral neurogenetics; transcriptional regulation.

jeff jones

Jeff Jones

Jones Profile  | Jones Lab Website

Understanding the genes, neurons, and circuits regulating circadian rhythms in behavior and physiology

alex keene

Alex Keene

Keene Profile | Keene Lab Website

Neural regulation of behavior in flies and fish models

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Matthias Koch

Koch Profile | Koch Lab Website

Mechanobiology of bacteria and advanced microscopy

profile photo of wanhe li

Wanhe Li

Li Profile

Uncovering mechanistic links between emotional states, biological timing, sleep, and development of chronic diseases using interdisciplinary approaches.

Thomas McKnight

McKnight Profile

Molecular analysis of protein secretion in plants; plant genome organization and evolution

Jerome Menet

Menet Profile | Menet Lab Website

Molecular mechanism of the circadian clock in mice

Christine Merlin

Merlin Profile | Merlin Lab Website

Molecular genetics and genomics of monarch butterfly circadian clocks and long-distance migration

Angela Mitchell

Mitchell Profile | Mitchell Lab Website

Mechanisms of interaction between stress and antibiotic resistance in gram-negative bacteria

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Rachel Moran

Moran Profile | Moran Lab Website

Local adaptation and speciation in fishes. Genetic basis of convergently evolved traits. Behavior, genomics, neurogenomics.

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Matthew Moulton

Moulton Profile 

Functional genetics of human disease variants using Drosophila models; Mechanisms of lipid droplet formation in the brain; Neuron-glia interactions

Daniel Paredes-Sabja

Paredes-Sabja Profile | Paredes-Sabja Lab Website

Molecular mechanisms of C. difficile pathogenesis and exosporium-assembly of C. difficile spores

Alan Pepper

Pepper Profile

Environmental regulation of development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Hongmin Qin

Qin Profile | Qin Lab Website

Quantitative Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology

Jolene Ramsey

Ramsey Profile | Ramsey Lab Website

Bacteriophage discovery and annotation, bacterial cell lysis mechanisms, phage-host interactions, viral genomics

Bruce Riley

Riley Profile | Riley Lab Website

Genetic regulation of zebra fish development

Kathryn Ryan

Ryan Profile

Nuclear pore complex assembly and nuclear envelope dynamics using yeast as a model system

Matt Sachs

Sachs Profile

Regulation of eukaryotic gene expression focused primarily on post-transcriptional control; functional analyses of fungi at the genome level

shogo sato

Shogo Sato

Sato Profile

Molecular and physiological basis of circadian-metabolic crosstalk in mammals

James Leif Smith

Smith Profile | Smith Lab Website

Structural and functional characterization of natural products from microorganisms

profile photo of marie strader

Marie Strader

Strader Profile | Strader Lab Website

Evolutionary drivers of resiliency, molecular ecology, marine invertebrates

Wayne Versaw

Versaw Profile

Plant cell and molecular biology; nutrient transport and metabolism

Aref Zarin

Zarin Profile | Zarin Lab Website

Developmental and experimental neuroscience; Formation and maintenance of sensory-motor circuits in Drosophila; Behavioral neurogenetics, neural circuitry underlying locomotor behaviors and action selection; Transcriptional regulation of neuronal properties

profile of xiuren zhang

Xiuren Zhang

Zhang Profile

Plant RNA Biology and Epigenetics