The graduate faculty members of the Biology Department provide one-on-one mentorship and research guidance to graduate students enrolled in the Biology M.S. and Ph.D. programs.  Each graduate student will ultimately be invited to join the lab of a specific faculty member, who will serve as that student's Research Advisor.  Current Biology faculty members who may accept graduate students into their labs are listed below (in alphabetical order), followed by a brief description of their research interests. To obtain more detailed information about a particular faculty member, click on his or her name.

• Yasir Ahmed-Braimah: Computational genomics, evolutionary genetics, speciation, molecular basis of reproductive interactions.
• David M. Althoff: Evolutionary ecology of species interactions, insect community ecology, molecular ecology, phylogenetics.
• Katie M. Becklin: Physiology, ecology, and evolution of species interactions, and their responses to environmental change.
• Carlos A. Castañeda: (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Biochemistry, structural biology, and biophysics of protein quality control mechanisms, biomolecular condensates, and cell stress responses.
• Heather D. Coleman: Plant biotechnology.
• Steve Dorus (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Evolutionary genetics and genomics of reproductive systems.
• Christopher Fernandez: Mycorrhizal ecology; ecosystem ecology; mycology; plant-microbe interactions; soil biogeochemistry.
• Austin Garner (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Organismal attachment, functional morphology, biomechanics, anatomy, bio-inspired adhesion, biomimetics.
• Sarah E. Hall: Cellular memory of developmental history in C. elegans.
• Heidi Hehnly: Understanding the interface between cytoskeletal dynamics and membrane transport, and defining how they co-regulate one another to control essential cellular processes such as cell division, fate, and polarity.
• James Hewett: Neuromodulators and epilepsy; function of arachidonic acid metabolism, Cyclooxygenase-2, and interleukin-1 in the central nervous system.
• James Hougland (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Bioorganic chemistry, biochemistry, enzymology, post-translational modification, molecular biology.
• Li-En Jao (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Principles of macromolecular assembly and transport—Mechanism and regulation of centrosome assembly; centrosome dysfunction in human diseases; zebrafish genetics and cell biology.
• Eun-Deok Kim (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Decoding epigenetic and genetic pathways of cell fate programming in plant development and stress adaptation, leveraging advanced genomic and epigenomic tools, CRISPR editing, and molecular methodologies with stomata as a model system.
• Louis James (Jamie) Lamit (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Plant-fungal interactions, peatland microbial communities, carbon cycling, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, mycology.
• Katharine (Kate) Lewis: Specification and patterning of spinal cord interneurons, formation of functional neuronal circuitry, evolution of spinal cord patterning and function, dorsal-ventral neural tube patterning, zebrafish development.
• Chih Hung Lo (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Autophagic and lysosomal degradation, body-brain interactions, structure-function relationships and conformational dynamics of proteins, drug discovery, nanomedicine engineering.
• Sarah K. Lucas: Human microbiome, metagenomics, bioinformatics, anaerobic microbiology, experimental microbiology
• Jessica MacDonald: Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms regulating neuronal development and function; gene-environment interactions and neurodevelopmental disorders.
• Heather Meyer (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Uncovering and manipulating the protein-based mechanisms underlying plant environmental sensing and response using live cell-imaging, molecular genetics, and biochemistry.
• Angela Oliverio: Eco-evolutionary dynamics, experimental biology, bioinformatics, soil microbiology, systems and computational biology, metagenomics, synthetic sourdough starter microbiomes.
• Susan E. Parks: Behavioral ecology, acoustic communication, marine science, conservation biology.
• Melissa E. Pepling: Regulation of mouse oocyte development, hormone signaling in oocyte differentiation.
• Scott Pitnick: Evolution of reproduction and life history traits.
• Ramesh Raina: Epigenetic mechanisms regulating plant defense against pathogens and plant development.
• Roy D. Welch: Molecular aspects of signaling among a homogeneous population of bacteria.
• Jason R. Wiles (actively recruiting for Fall 2025): Education research in the life and earth sciences with special attention to teaching and learning about biological evolution; science education at all academic levels.