DEPARTMENT of BIOLOGY


Faculty and Student Research 

Graduate Student Research

Undergraduate Student Research


Faculty Research in Biology

Eric Birgbauer, Ph.D. 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

    Dr. Eric Birgbauer

    • Research Interests: Development of the visual system; molecular mechanisms of retinal axon guidance abstract (pdf - 32.3KB)
    • Dr. Birgbauer's website

Salvatore Blair, Ph.D.  University of Alberta

    Dr. Salvatore Blair

    • Research Interests:  Fish physiology; Conservation physiology; Investigating the cellular mechanisms governing fish osmoregulation, ion-regulation, and thermoregulation while living in dynamic and anthropogenically influenced aquatic environments.

Dwight Dimaculangan, Ph.D.  University of South Carolina

    Dr. Dwight Dimaculangan

    • Research Interests: Impact of academic strengthening programs on student retention and success (204E project).
    • Previous research - Tissue culture models of heart disease; Citoplasmic Male Sterility in wild-type tomatoes.

Victoria Frost, Ph.D. 

St. Bartholomew's Hospital, University of London, England

    Dr. Victoria Frost

    • Research Interests: Bacterial diversity and evolution in aquatic ecosystems, Bacteriophage genomics and evolution - SEA-PHAGES/SEA-GENES.

Laura Glasscock, Ph.D.  University of. North Carolina, Chapel Hill

    Dr. Laura Glasscock

    • Research Interests: Focuses on the role of proteases and their receptors in prostate cancer progression.
    • Dr. Glasscock is specifically interested in how these proteins regulate the ability of prostate tumor cells to invade and metastasize and how they regulate the process of angiogenesis.

Kunsiri Grubbs, Ph.D.  University of Tennessee

    Dr. Kunsiri Grubbs

    • Research Interests: Conservation of an endangered sunflower species (Schweinitz's sunflower) that endemic to the Piedmont region.
    • Dr. Grubbs research work also includes the study of higher plant systematics with a focus on a genus Eupatorium, a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae).

Kathryn Kohl, Ph.D.  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

    Dr. Kathryn Kohl

    • Research Interests:Various aspects of meiotic and mitotic recombination using both transmission genetics and molecular genetics in the model system drosophila melanogaster (the fruit fly). 
    • This basic research has implications for human health since DNA repair is crucial to maintaining genome stability and aberrant meiotic crossing over can result in gametes (sperm or eggs) with an improper chromosome complement (aneuploidy).

Kiyoshi Sasaki, Ph.D.  Oklahoma State University

    Dr. Kiyoshi Sasaki

    • Research Interests: Conservation Biology, Dendroecology, Behavioral Ecology, Evolutionary Ecology, and Herpetology.

Jennifer Schafer, Ph.D.  University of Florida 

    Dr. Jennifer Schafer

    • Research Interests: Plant Ecology and Fire Ecology.

Julian Smith, III, Ph.D.  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 

    Dr. Julian Smith III

    • Research Interests: Systematics and evolution of free-living flatworms; biology of marine meiofauna. abstract (pdf - 44.5KB)
    • Dr. Smith's website.

Daniel Stovall, Ph.D.  Wake Forest University 

 

    Dr. Daniel Stovall

    • Research Interests: Contribution of abnormal epigenetic mechanisms to disease progression in breast and prostate cancers and glioblastoma. Specific interests include chromatin remodeling enzymes, transcription factors, and noncoding RNAs. 

Kristi M. Westover, Ph.D. 

Washington State University 

    Dr. Kristi Westover

    • Research Interests: Evolution of biomedically important viruses such as Hepatitis B, HIV, and Influenza A. abstract (pdf - 27.3KB)

Jena Chojnowski, Ph.D.  Univesity of Florida

    Dr. Jena Chojnowski

    • Research Interests: Developmental Biology and Cell Biology, focusing on a developmental comparative anatomy approach to understand how one organ that accomplishes one goal, to detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons, can be utilized in so many diverse ways. 

Elizabeth King Endowment

The R. Morrison & Miriam D. King Endowment was established by Dr. Elizabeth N. King in honor of her parents in November of 2001. This endowment offers faculty members further opportunities for research and development.