Research

Our graduate students and faculty pursue research in a broad range of ecological and molecular topics, all in connection to stewardship of our natural world and many relating directly to solution of real-world environmental and health issues.

Ecological Emphases

BU Biology has been a long-time contributor to studies in limnology and aquatic ecology. Prof. Owen Lind and collaborators, for example, have conducted research on water quality and trophic ecology in Lake Chapala, Mexico, for more than 20 years and have studied reservoir ecology for over 3 decades at BU. Dr. Darrell Vodopich and his students have collaborated in many of these aquatic ecology projects. Dr. Robert Doyle (Chair, Biology) specializes in restoration of wetlands systems and is director of CRASR, a multidisciplinary water research center here at Baylor. Dr. Ryan King studies linkages between water quality and structure and function of ecological communities, particularly in streams. Dr. Patrick Danley is a population geneticist who studies speciation and behavior in fishes, particularly African cichlids. These aquatic scientists collaborate with colleagues in other BU programs, including Dr. Bryan Brooks in Environmental Studies, whose specialty lies in aquatic toxicology.

Dr. Joseph White contributes significantly to both aquatic and terrestrial ecology via his expertise in ecosystems modeling.

BU biologists pursue numerous research projects related to terrestrial ecology. Prof. Kevin Gutzwiller, a landscape ecologist and conservation biologist, studies effects of wildland recreational disturbance and landscape characteristics on the structure and dynamics of bird communities. Prof. Ken Wilkins (also Graduate Program Director) works with small mammals, primarily rodents and bats, in various ecological areas including invasion ecology and community structure, urban ecology, and biogeography. Prof. Walter Holmes specializes in floral surveys and systematics of flowering plants. Dr. Robert Adams is a systematic botanist who uses molecular techniques to study plant speciation.

Additional Biology faculty supporting ecological studies include Prof. Robert Baldridge (entomology, parasitology), Prof. David Eldridge (fungal physiology and ecology), Dr. Ann Rushing (bryology, plant anatomy), Dr. Mark Taylor (phycology), and Prof. Fred Gehlbach (behavioral and conservation ecology of birds, reptiles and amphibians).

Much of the research noted above is or has been funded by agencies including National Science Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, National Institutes of Health, Nature Conservancy, Army Corps of Engineers, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, etc.

Molecular and Health Emphases

A significant part of the heritage of Baylor's undergraduate Biology program has long been the preparation of pre-health students. Many of our faculty pursue research programs related to health and molecular biology Dr. Chris Kearney is a molecular biologist who studies plant molecular biology, biotechnology, protein expression, and researches anti-cancer drugs in collaboration with colleagues in Baylor's Center for Drug Discovery. Dr. Myeongwoo Lee is a developmental biologist whose research emphases are in cellular signaling, aging studies, and molecular cell biology; his model organism is C. elegans. Both of these professors direct graduate students in the Department of Biology and the Institute of Biomedical Studies. Dr. Brian Gibbon studies plant genetics in the context of proteins and potential food quality, particularly in corn.

The Biomedical Studies (BMS) program at Baylor plays an important part in molecular/medical graduate education and research in the Biology Department.  Graduate students from both Biology and BMS programs take classes from BMS professors from two research institutes in Dallas, as these researchers drive down to Waco to teach BMS classes.  These institutes are the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research and the Institute of Metabolic Disease and they are characterized by excellent facilities and outstanding research faculty.  BMS students often choose professors from these institutes to direct their research.  Collaborations between BIIR or IMD professors and Waco professors have been productive and are actively encouraged. 

Additional collaborators beyond our department include several faculty in bioinformatics and bioengineering. Our physiologists include Prof. David Eldridge, a cell physiologist. Dr. Ann Rushing, our electron microscopist, collaborates in ultrastructural studies. Prof. Keith Hartberg and Dr. Rick Duhrkopf are mosquito geneticists who pursue questions of health importance, e.g., West Nile virus. Prof. Hartberg specializes in mosquito genetics and bionomics.