Department of Biological Sciences

Faculty research focuses on photosynthesis, plant evolution, plant genomics, gene regulation, environmental remediation, and the metabolic engineering of pharmaceutical compounds.

Faculty study evolutionary change using a variety of techniques capitalizing on recent advances in genomics methodology and the evolution of viruses, plants, fish, and humans.

Our research concerns plant evolutionary biology; molecular phylogenetics and population genomics; chromatin and gene expression; genome stability; and the genetics of aquatic invertebrates.

Our faculty study a variety of model systems using electrophysiology and imaging techniques to understand sensory signalling and the cellular processes underlying important neuronal disorders. 

Faculty study essential biological processes with particular relevance to the understanding of animal life.

Signaling faculty study cellular communication and the intracellular pathways that regulate activity. These faculty use a wide range of model organisms and techniques to examine a diverse array of signalling pathways involved in hormonal regulation, sensory transduction, and cell growth and metabolism.

Microbiology faculty study microorganisms including viruses, bacteria, and protozoans.

Cell and Molecular faculty study the regulation of protein expression, from transcription to translation to post-translational modification.

Our faculty study cell biology and signalling pathways that are used by filamentous fungi and budding yeast to adapt to their environments. Our research uses yeast as a model organism to study the mechanisms of gene expression.

Geneticists investigate biological processes by examining the phenotypic consequences of altering genes. Our faculty study how information encoded in DNA is interpreted to produce functional proteins.