Faculty

OEB brings together more than 75 faculty, providing critical mass needed for effective graduate training. Our faculty are drawn from 10 departments at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and from across the Five College System (Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke, and Smith Colleges), as well as from off-campus institutions. OEB faculty are engaged in cutting edge research, with research clusters in four broad areas:

Animal Behavior

Behavioral ecology, communication, learning

Ecology

Community ecology, population ecology, landscape ecology, conservation biology

Evolutionary Biology

Evolution, phylogenetics, population genetics, molecular evolution

Organismal Biology

Physiology, morphology, paleontology

All OEB faculty are listed below. To help applicants to our graduate program locate a faculty sponsor, the faculty list can be filtered by four broad research areas. A list of faculty who are activiely seeking graduate students can be found HERE

Name	Research Interests
Lynn Adler Professor, Biology	Ecology and evolution of insect-plant interactions
R. Craig Albertson Professor of Biology, University of Massachusetts	Evolutionary Developmental Biology
Dominique R. Alfandari Professor of Developmental Biology, University of Massachusetts	Cell migration in Developmental systems
Courtney C. Babbitt Associate Professor, Department of Biology	Evolutionary Genomics
Madelaine Bartlett Associate Professor, Biology	Evolution of plant development; Molecular evolution
Tobias Baskin Professor, Biology	Regulation of Plant Morphogenesis During Growth & Development
Annaliese Beery Associate Professor, Departments of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Biology, Smith College	Neuroendocrinology of social behavior
Jesse Bellemare Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Smith College	Plant ecology, biogeography and evolution
Eric L. Bittman Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology	Circadian Rhythms, Reproduction, and Seasonal Changes in Brain Function
Jeffrey L. Blanchard Associate Professor, Department of Biology	Microbial cellular and community networks; influence of environmental change on the evolution of molecular processes; systems biology; bioinformatics
Bethany A. Bradley Associate Professor of Environmental Conservation	Biogeography and spatial ecology of terrestrial plant invasions
Patricia Brennan Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Mt. Holyoke College	Evolutionary consequences of interactions between behavior, morphology and the environment
Jill L. Bubier Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science, Mount Holyoke College	Carbon cycling in northern wetlands
John P. Buonaccorsi Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Statistics	Statistical theory, methods and applcations, Quantitative ecology
Bruce Byers Senior Lecturer of Biology	Acoustic communication in birds
Ana Caicedo Professor, Biology	Evolutionary genomics of adaptation and divergence in wild, weedy and crop plant species
Graham Caldwell Associate Professor of Kinesiology	Muscle mechanics and modeling in human motor performance
Theodore Castro–Santos Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biology	Biomechanics and Behavior of Migratory Fishes; Bioengineering of Fish Passage Structures
Brian S. Cheng Assistant Professor, Environmental Conservation	Marine global change ecology and the dynamics of predator-prey interactions
Ethan D. Clotfelter Professor of Biology, Amherst College	Reproductive behavior of birds and fishes
Erin Conlon Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics	Statistical methods in genomics and bioinformatics
Daniel R. Cooley Professor of Plant Pathology, Stockbridge School of Agriculture	Epidemiology, ecology and sustainable management of plant diseases
Cristina Cox Fernandes Adjunct Research Associate Professor and Curator of Fishes, Department of Biology	Ecology and evolutionary diversity of neotropical freshwater fishes, particularly within the Amazon River
Andy J. Danylchuk Associate Professor of Environmental Conservation	Fish conservation, recreational fisheries, sustainable aquaculture
Kristen M DeAngelis Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology	Community ecology and physiology of soil microbes, climate change, plant-soil interactions
Stephen DeStefano Research Professor of Environmental Conservation USGS Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Leader	Urban and suburban wildlife, forest wildlife, and human-wildlife interactions
Graziella V. DiRenzo Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of Environmental Conservation Assistant Unit Leader of Wildlife U. S. Geological Survey MA Cooperative Research Unit	Quantitative ecology, population dynamics, applied ecology
Robert L. Dorit Professor of Biological Sciences, Smith College	Molecular evolution; comparative & statistical approaches to molecular & genome evolution
Gerald B. Downes Professor, Department of Biology	Development and function of spinal cord networks
Joseph S. Elkinton Professor of Environmental Conservation	Population dynamics and biological control of invasive forest insects
John Finn Professor of Environmental Conservation	Network Analysis of Acoustic Telemetry
Lillian Fritz–Laylin Associate Professor of Biology	Quantitative Evolutionary Cell Biology
Alexander R. Gerson Assistant Professor, Biology	Integrative ecological physiology of birds, energetics, water balance, bird migration
John G. Gibbons Assistant Professor of Food Science	Genomics, Evolution, Bioinformatics
Cynthia Gill Associate Professor of Natural Sciences, Hampshire College	Human and comparative physiology, neuroscience, endocrinology, herpetology, conservation biology, and behavioral biology
Gary B. Gillis Norman Wait Harris and Emma Gale Harris Foundation Professor of Biological Sciences; Associate Dean of Faculty; Director of the Science Center, Mount Holyoke College	Biomechanics and neuromuscular control of vertebrate locomotion
Barry Goodell Research Professor, Department of Microbiology	Fungal biochemical mechanisms involved in human disease, and also involved in the degradation of lignocellulose biomass and xenobiotics
Steven Goodwin Deputy Chancellor and Chief Planning Officer; Professor of Microbiology
Evan Grant Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental Conservation Research Wildlife Biologist, Conte Anadromous Fish Lab	Ecology and management of amphibian populations and habitat
Curtice R. Griffin Professor and Department Head of Environmental Conservation	Wildlife ecology and conservation
Alex Haro Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental Conservation Ecologist and Section Leader, Fish Passage Engineering S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center	Fish behavior and migration; fish passage
Rachel Hestrin Assistant Professor, Stockbridge School of Agriculture	Plant-microbe interactions, biogeochemistry, ecosystem response to change, sustainable agriculture
Brigitte M. Holt Associate Professor of Anthropology	Biocultural evolution of the genus Homo, functional morphology and biomechanics of the appendicular skeleton, paleoecology, forager ecology, Old World prehistory, Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene ecology, bone mass and physical activity.
Michael Hood Associate Professor of Biology, Amherst College	Evolutionary forces that shape systems of inheritance and disease transmission
Martha Hoopes Professor, Biological Sciences, Mount Holyoke College	Spread dynamics, impacts, and lag times in invasion ecology, as well as metacommunity dynamics, particularly for plants and herbivores.
Peter W. Houlihan Senior Lecturer in Biology	Animal Behavior, Vertebrate Ecology, and Conservation Biology
Duncan J. Irschick Professor, Department of Biology	Functional Morphology, Evolution, and Behavioral Ecology
Elizabeth M. Jakob Professor, Biology Department	Animal behavior, especially perception, learning, and social behavior
Abigail Jensen Associate Professor, Department of Biology	Molecular and cellular mechanisms of vertebrate retinal development and retinal disease.
Norman A. Johnson Adjunct Research Assistant Professor, Biology & Environmental Conservation	Evolutionary genetics, evolution of development
Adrian Jordaan Associate Professor, Environmental Conservation	Ecosystems, modeling, tagging, movement, trophic dynamics, diadromous, marine, fisheries, historical ecology
Jason M. Kamilar Associate Professor of Anthropology	Comparative biology of primates and other mammals
Ilia Karatsoreos Associate Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences	The general research objective in our lab is to understand the neural and physiological systems that the brain and body use to protect us from harm and adapt to changes in the environment. We focus on biological rhythms, stress, immunology, and metabolism
Rolf O. Karlstrom Professor, Department of Biology	Developmental neurobiology; axon guidance and forebrain patterning
Laura A. Katz Elsie Damon Simonds Professor of Biological Sciences, Smith College	Genome evolution and biodiversity studies of microbial eukaryotes
Paul S. Katz Director of Neuroscience and Professor of Biology	Neuroethology, central pattern generators, single neuron RNA-seq, developmental neuroscience, evolution of neural circuits, molluscan systems
Diane A. Kelly Senior Research Fellow, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences	Neurobiology, biomechanics, and evolution of reproductive systems.
Jane Kent Professor, Department of Kinesiology	Quantifying age, gender, and activity based changes in human skeletal muscle function. Measuring the roles of neural activation, intramuscular metabolism, contractile function and blood flow in the development of muscle fatigue in a variety of populations.
David King Adjunct Research Associate Professor, Environmental Conservation Research Wildlife Biologist USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Amherst	Wildlife ecology and conservation
Lisa Komoroske Assistant Professor, Environmental Conservation	Conservation genomics and ecophysiology in marine and freshwater ecosystems
Michael L. Lavine Emeritus Professor, Mathematics and Statistics	Statistical Theory and Methods
R. Mark Leckie Professor and Department Head, Geosciences	Micropaleontology, Biostratigraphy, Paleoceanography
Susannah B. Lerman Adjunct Research Professor, Dept. of Environmental Conservation	Urban and suburban ecology, wildlife conservation, and citizen science
Benjamin Letcher Adjunct Associate Professor of Environmental Conservation Section Leader, Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center	Population ecology of stream fishes
Rachel A. Levin Senior Lecturer, Department of Biology, Amherst College	Plant systematics, biogeography and ecology
Li–Jun Ma Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Fungal comparative genomics, eukaryotic genome evolution and organism adaptation
Meghan Graham MacLean Lecturer of Quantitative Ecology, Department of Environmental Conservation	Aboveground carbon consequences of future land use in New England, Carbon accounting of timber from current harvest trends in Massachusetts, Modeling direct and indirect impacts of forest insects and pathogens, and Inclusive pedagogy in quantitative undergraduate biology
Stephen D. McCormick Adjunct Professor of Biology Research Physiologist, Conte Anadromous Fish Lab	Environmental Physiology of Fish
Kevin McGarigal Professor of Environmental Conservation	Landscape ecology, ecosystem management, wildlife ecology
Jill Miller Professor of Biology, Amherst College	Ecology and evolution of plant reproductive systems, molecular phylogenetic systematics, population and evolutionary genetics, hybridization and speciation
Toni Lyn Morelli Research Ecologist, Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept. of Environmental Conservation	Climate change ecology, montane and boreal wildlife, and decision analysis and translational ecology for climate adaptation
Keith H. Nislow Adjunct Associate Professor of Environmental Conservation Research Fishery Biologist, USDA Forest Service	Ecology and conservation biology of stream fishes and invertebrates
Benjamin Normark Department Head and Professor of Biology	Evolution of alternative genetic systems; evolution of host range; scale insect systematics
Melinda Novak Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences	Behavior of microtines and primates
Klaus Nüsslein Professsor of Microbiology	Microbial ecology of terrestrial and aquatic environments
Sarah Partan Associate Professor, School of Cognitive Science, Hampshire College	Visual and acoustic communication in mammals
Jeffrey E. Podos Professor, Department of Biology	Mechanisms and evolution of vertebrate behavior, bioacoustics
Adam H. Porter Associate Professor of Biology Admissions Committee Chair, OEB	Evolutionary biology; hybridization, introgression & speciation; ecological genetics; evolution of regulatory genetic pathways; computer and mathematical modeling; invasion and range expansion; insects, especially butterflies and moths
Stan P. Rachootin Professor of Biological Sciences, Mount Holyoke College	Evolution and development, history of evolutionary theory
Luke Remage–Healey Program Leader / GPD of Neuroscience and Behavior Program; Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences	Neural basis of behavior
Stephen Rich Professor of Microbiology	Molecular Evolution and Population Genomics of Arthropod-borne Microbial Pathogens
Alan M. Richmond Lecturer in Biology Curator of Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles , NaturalHistory Collections	Phylogeography of New England amphibians and reptiles
Charles Ross Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biology, Hampshire College	Ecological and evolutionary genetics of hybrid zones and speciation
Allison H. Roy Research Associate Professor of Environmental Conservation	Freshwater ecology, fish and macroinvertebrates, urban ecology, conservation
Laela Sayigh Assistant Professor of Animal Behavior, Hampshire College	Social behavior and communication of cetaceans (whales and dolphins)
Tristram Seidler Extension Assistant Professor, Biology	Plant ecology, plant diversity, invasive plants, climate change
David A. Sela Associate Professor, Department of Food Science	Nutrition, human milk, gut microbiome, systems biology, host-microbe interactions/co-evolution, translational research
Lynnette Sievert Professor of Anthropology	Evolution of menopause
Paul R Sievert Research Associate Professor of Environmental Conservation	Conservation biology, physiological ecology and biostatistics
L. David Smith Professor of Biological Sciences, Smith College Director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program	Ecology and evolution of marine predator-prey interactions
Michelle Staudinger Adjunct Assistant Professor, Environmental Conservation Science Coordinator, DOI Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center	Climate change impacts on coastal biodiversity and trophic relationships
Kristina Stinson Associate Professor, Environmental Conservation	Plant Ecology, Invasive Plants, Biological Responses to Global Change
John Stoffolano Professor, Stockbridge School of Agriculture	Behavior and physiology of flies especially of the adult crop organ and the mechanisms regulating filling and depletion
Chris Sutherland Assistant Professor, Environmental Conservation	Population, spatial, statistical and applied ecology
Alexander Suvorov Associate Professor, Environmental Health Sciences	Effects on behavior by environmental xenobiotics with endocrine disruptive properties
Ethan J. Temeles Professor of Biology, Amherst College	Foraging behavior; Territoriality; Intra- and Interspecific competition; Resource partitioning; Mutualism; Coevolution; Sexual dimorphisms and polymorphisms
Elsbeth Walker Professor, Biology Department	Molecular genetic approaches to studying mechanisms of metal ion homeostasis in plants
Paige S. Warren Professor of Environmental Conservation	Urban ecology, human-environment interactions, animal behavior
Tammy L. Wilson Research Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Conservation USGS Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Assistant Unit Leader	Landscape ecology, spatial ecology, wildlife conservation and management, structured decision-making