We are an integrative biology department that cultivates interactions that traverse traditional interdisciplinary boundaries.  We actively recruit scientists who span spatial, temporal and complexity scales from molecular to cellular to organismal to population to ecosystem, using the most powerful approaches to address Biology’s most pressing questions. 

We pursue research and teaching in four overarching and interactive programs, each focused on issues central to Biology and addressing challenges faced by humanity.

Neuroscience & Behavior

We ask how the nervous system and behavior develop and are maintained, using a diversity of experimental and analytical approaches from molecular and cellular to the complex interplay between cells, tissues and behavior.  Our analyses reveal how organisms sense their environment, move and interact. Faculty working in Neuroscience & Behavior include: Baker, Browne, Collins, Dallman, Lu, Rieger, and Shelton.

Development & Disease

We use organisms selected for their unique phylogenetic position or their experimental utility to uncover fundamental genetic and cellular underpinnings of development and homeostasis, and ask how alterations to these processes can lead to evolutionary changes or disease.  Faculty working in Development & Disease include:  Baker, Browne, Collins, Dallman, Lu, Rieger, Wikramanayake, Shelton, and Wilson.

Biodiversity & Global Change Biology

We ask how human stressors impact biodiversity and how these impacts can be mitigated. Stressors investigated include climate change, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, pollution, and modification of natural disturbance regimes. Faculty working in Biodiversity & Global Change Biology include: Afkhami, DeAngelis, Feeley, Gaines, McCracken, C. Searcy, Shelton, and Whitlock.

Microbiome Biology & Species Interactions

We ask where species interactions fall on the spectrum from competition to mutualism and the evolutionary and ecological contexts that shape these outcomes. Increasingly we focus on the role that microbes play as members of these interaction networks. Faculty working in Microbiome Biology & Species Interactions include: Afkhami, Collins, Dallman, Feeley, Rieger, C. Searcy, Silveira, Van Dyken, and Wilson.”

Tropical Ecology & Evolution

We study the evolution and maintenance of biodiversity in the most diverse region of the planet, the Tropics. Increasingly, this involves how natural ecosystems respond to anthropogenic stressors, such as climate change, defaunation, and habitat fragmentation. Faculty working in Tropical Ecology & Evolution include: Afkhami, DeAngelis, Feeley, Gaines, McCracken, Searcy, Silveira, Whitlock, Shelton, and Zanne.