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 interdepartmental graduate and research programs, including Genetics, Neuroscience, Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences, and the newly formed faculty of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavioral Biology.
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
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.
Criscione Profile | Criscione Lab Website
Ecology, evolution, and genetics of parasites
Lockless Profile | Lockless Lab Website
Electrical and motile properties of microorganisms; Information content in genomes
Comparative endocrinology of reproduction and thyroid function in fish, amphibians, and reptiles
Evolution and ecology of animal communication; mate choice and evolutionary genetics in Mexican freshwater fishes; visual ecology and evolution of neotropical reef fishes
Pigment cell biology and genetics; molecular biology of melanoma; oncogenic function of receptor tyrosine kinases; evolution and molecular biology of sex determination; gene and genome evolution
Stress survival by the bacterium E. coli, development of an ontology of microbial phenotypes
Smotherman Profile | Smotherman Lab Webpage
Neurobiology of animal communication: sensory-motor integration
Adaptive coloration of marine invertebrates; distribution, behavior, and classification of eastern Pacific Decapoda Crustacea