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
Bell-Pedersen Profile | Bell-Pedersen Lab Website
Molecular genetics and genomics of circadian clocks and signaling pathways in fungi
Cryptic speciation; evolution of reproductive isolation; body size evolution; species packing and community assembly; range determinants; comparative physiological ecology; integrative evolutionary ecology
Blackmon Profile | Blackmon Lab page
Evolutionary genetics and genomics using both theoretical and empirical approaches. Empirical methods used include bioinformatics, phylogenetics, quantitative genetics.
Molecular basis of phenotypic variation and adaptation, Role of repetitive genome in evolution of sexual dimorphism and sexual conflict
Criscione Profile | Criscione Lab Website
Ecology, evolution, and genetics of parasites
Delmore Profile | Delmore Lab Webpage
Hybridization, speciation, and behavioral genomics
Sex determination in Drosophila; temporal and transcriptional controls in development; RNA silencing mechanisms
Garcia Profile | Garcia Lab Website
Genetics of behavior and development in C. elegans
Gomer Profile | Gomer Lab Website
Tissue size regulation, wound healing, and fibrosing diseases
Hardin Profile | Hardin Lab Website
Molecular biology of biological clocks in Drosophila; behavioral neurogenetics; transcriptional regulation.
Jones Profile | Jones Lab Website
Understanding the genes, neurons, and circuits regulating circadian rhythms in behavior and physiology
Uncovering mechanistic links between emotional states, biological timing, sleep, and development of chronic diseases using interdisciplinary approaches.
Molecular analysis of protein secretion in plants; plant genome organization and evolution
Merlin Profile | Merlin Lab Website
Molecular genetics and genomics of monarch butterfly circadian clocks and long-distance migration
Mitchell Profile | Mitchell Lab Website
Mechanisms of interaction between stress and antibiotic resistance in gram-negative bacteria
Moran Profile | Moran Lab Website
Local adaptation and speciation in fishes. Genetic basis of convergently evolved traits. Behavior, genomics, neurogenomics.
Functional genetics of human disease variants using Drosophila models; Mechanisms of lipid droplet formation in the brain; Neuron-glia interactions
Paredes-Sabja Profile | Paredes-Sabja Lab Website
Molecular mechanisms of C. difficile pathogenesis and exosporium-assembly of C. difficile spores
Ramsey Profile | Ramsey Lab Website
Bacteriophage discovery and annotation, bacterial cell lysis mechanisms, phage-host interactions, viral genomics
Nuclear pore complex assembly and nuclear envelope dynamics using yeast as a model system
Regulation of eukaryotic gene expression focused primarily on post-transcriptional control; functional analyses of fungi at the genome level
Molecular and physiological basis of circadian-metabolic crosstalk in mammals
Smith Profile | Smith Lab Website
Structural and functional characterization of natural products from microorganisms
Strader Profile | Strader Lab Website
Evolutionary drivers of resiliency, molecular ecology, marine invertebrates
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
