Biodiversity: Faculty & Staff
Byron J. Adams
Byron’s work involves field and laboratory studies that aim to understand the role of biodiversity in ecosystem structure and functioning. This research addresses key questions related to impact of climate-driven changes on Antarctic terrestrial organisms and ecosystems.
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Adams Lab Website
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Adams Lab Website
Richard Gill
Dr. Gill’s research focuses on human impacts on community and ecosystem processes in systems ranging from subalpine meadows to tropical reefs. He and his students use remote sensing, plot-level experimentation, and laboratory analysis to understand the impacts of climate change in sentinel ecosystems.
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Gill Lab Website
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Gill Lab Website
Blaine Griffen
I study the energetic consequences of human impacts on marine organisms that live along the coasts. Most of my research focuses on crabs as a model organism and on marine mammals. I use a wide range of methods, including field sampling, laboratory experiments, physiological assays, and computer simulation and computational modeling. I involve undergraduate students in all aspects of this work.
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Griffen Lab Website
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Griffen Lab Website
Jerry Johnson
My primary research questions focus on understanding how ecological interactions drive evolutionary diversification. Some of this work has important conservation implications. For example, using molecular techniques and specimen-based work, we focus on identifying evolutionarily distinct groups of fishes that warrant independent consideration in conservation recovery and planning (so called "distinct population segments" or "evolutionarily significant units"). We also look at unique patterns of biological diversity within common species and explore how these incubators of future biological diversity should be conserved. Finally, we have ongoing work on life history traits and demographic patterns in rare and threatened species, including leatherside chub and least chub in western North America, and several rare livebearing fish species found in Central America and western Mexico.
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Johnson Lab Website
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Johnson Lab Website
Steve Leavitt
Emphasis: Symbiosis, evolution, systematics, lichens, holobionts, bio-monitoring, diversity in arid or extreme habitats.
Current Research: species delimitation in alpine and arid lichens; genome evolution in symbiotic fungi; biodiversity research using natural history collections at the Museum of Life Science; developing new biomonitoring approaches using lichens.
Pre-requisites: Interest in evolution, plant biology/mycology. Preference given to Biology Department majors.
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Leavitt Lab Webiste
Current Research: species delimitation in alpine and arid lichens; genome evolution in symbiotic fungi; biodiversity research using natural history collections at the Museum of Life Science; developing new biomonitoring approaches using lichens.
Pre-requisites: Interest in evolution, plant biology/mycology. Preference given to Biology Department majors.
Send email
Leavitt Lab Webiste
