Faculty
The faculty of the Biology Department are dedicated to enhancing their students’ understanding of the living world. They teach a wide variety of Biology courses, mentor students in field and lab research and serve as academic advisors. The Benedictine value of hospitality is seen in the open door policy – if you need to talk with a professor, consider an open door an invitation to drop in for a chat.
Erica Baken
macroevolution of functional morphology of salamanders and beetles, phylogenetic comparative methods development and R programming
Gordon Brown
terrestrial ecology, plant-animal interactions
Eric Bruger
microbial physiology, evolutionary ecology, metabolic networks
Manuel Campos
human and exercise physiology, signal transduction in cells and its relation to disease
Katharine Cary
plant physiology and ecology
Philip Chu
ornithology, systematics
Clark Cotton
animal physiology, hibernation biology
Ashley Fink
microbiology, immunology
Carol Jansky
coordinator of introductory laboratories
Trevor Keyler
physiology, fish ecology
William Lamberts
aquatic ecology, phycology, plankton dynamics
Demelza Larson
quantitative genetics, cell biology of the cornea
Jeanne Marie Lust OSB
developmental biology, amphibian deformities, hematology
David Mitchell
protein structure, biochemistry
Michael Reagan
molecular biology, DNA repair mechanisms
Stephen Saupe
plant taxonomy, secondary metabolism of plants and fungi
Jennifer Schaefer, department chair
neuroscience, electrophysiology, science of teaching and learning
Kristina Timmerman
wildlife ecology, conservation biology, plant-animal interactions
Emeritus professors:
- Marcus Webster – physiological ecology, energetics of birds
- James Poff – entomology, behavioral ecology of social wasps
- Elizabeth Wurdak – biology of rotifers, histology, cell biology
- Larry Davis – geology, paleontology
- Charles Rodell – genetics
- Cheryl Knox – biochemistry
College of Saint Benedict
Saint John’s University
Dr. Jennifer Schaefer
Chair, Biology Department
SJU PEngl 303
320-363-3275