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.
Click on the names of the faculty members below for more information about their interests or to find out how to contact them.
- Dr Danielle Bolland: molecular biology of ovarian cancer
- Dr. Gordon Brown: terrestrial ecology, plant-animal interactions
- Dr. Manuel Campos: signal transduction in cells and its relation to disease
- Dr. Philip Chu [acting Department Chair]: ornithology, systematics
- Dr. Clark Cotton: animal physiology, hibernation biology
- Dr. Ashley Fink: microbiology, immunology
- Dr. Katherine Furniss: genetics, cell cycle checkpoints
- Ms. Carol Jansky: coordinator of introductory laboratories
- Dr. Ellen Jensen: virology, biology of fungi, immunology
- Dr. Trevor Keyler: physiology
- Dr. William Lamberts: aquatic ecology, phycology, plankton dynamics
- Dr. Demelza Larson: cell biology of corneal cell types, quantitative genetics of complex traits
- Dr Katherine Leehy: teleomeres of plants and animals
- Dr. Jeanne Marie Lust OSB: amphibian deformities, hematology
- Dr. Barb May [currently serving as Associate Dean]: immunology, microbiology, cell and molecular biology
- Dr. David Mitchell: protein structure, biochemistry
- Dr. Michael Reagan: molecular biology, DNA repair mechanisms
- Dr. Stephen Saupe: plant taxonomy, secondary metabolism of plants and fungi
- Dr. Jennifer Schaefer [Department Chair - July 1, 2020]: neuroscience, motor control, electrophysiology
- Ms. Kristina Timmerman: wildife ecology, conservation biology, plant-animal interactions
Emeritus professors
- Dr. Marcus Webster: physiological ecology, energetics of birds
- Dr. James Poff: entomology, behavioral ecology of social wasps
- Dr. Elizabeth Wurdak: biology of rotifers, histology, cell biology
- Dr. Larry Davis: geology, paleontology
- Dr. Charles Rodell: genetics
- Dr. Cheryl Knox: biochemistry