RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

The Department of Biology supports research in a wide range of subdisciplines from the molecular and cellular to the organismal to the ecosystem level.

AREAS OF RESEARCH

Aaron M. Bauer, PhD, Phylogenetic systematics and biogeography of squamate reptiles; evolutionary morphology of tetrapod vertebrates

Robert L. Curry, PhD, Vertebrate behavioral, population, & molecular ecology; ornithology; conservation biology

Samantha Chapman, PhD, Ecosystem processes and influencing biotic factors; Impacts of plant biodiversity on carbon and nutrient cycling and microbial diversity

Vikram K. Iyengar, PhD, Behavioral ecology, entomology, chemical ecology, sexual selection and its consequences, evolution of arthropod mating systems

Todd Jackman, PhD, Evolutionary genetics of salamanders and lizards using DNA sequence data

Adam Langley, PhD, Global change ecology, microbial ecology, marsh sustainability

John Olson, PhD, Metabolic & muscle physiology; ecophysiology; thermogenesis in birds and mammals; mechanical muscle performance of invertebrates and vertebrates

Dana Opulente, PhD, Microbial ecology, evolution, genomics, and bioinformatics.

Michael Russell, PhD, Basic and applied marine ecology, population biology, and fisheries science

Alyssa Stark, PhD, Functional morphology and biomechanics.

R. Kelman Wieder, PhD, Ecosystem ecology & biogeochemistry, wetland ecology; carbon cycling & accumulation/release in boreal peatland ecosystems

Anil Bamezai, Regulation of CD4+ T lymphocyte development in the thymus and responses to protein antigens in the peripheral lymphoid tissues

Angela J. DiBenedetto, Molecular and cellular biology; genetics; developmental neurobiology, especially programmed cell death

Russell M. Gardner, Endocrinology; pharmacology; mechanisms of hormone action, development of hormone responses; hormonal control of uterine growth and differentiation

Louise A. Russo, PhD, Cell biology & physiology; establishment of the uterine receptive state and fertility; regulated expression of specific cell surface adhesion receptor proteins and degradative enzymes

Troy R. ShirangiNeural circuit structure, function and development in Drosophila

James W. Wilson, Bacterial pathogens, novel bacterial genes, rotating wall vessel (RWV) culture. Cloned type III secretion systems

Dennis D. Wykoff, Molecular genetics of yeast, bioinformatics

Elaine M. Youngman, PhD, Exploring connections between small RNA biology, genome surveillance and fertility using molecular biology, genetics and genomics approaches

Matthew J. Youngman, PhD, Molecular genetics and cell biology of aging; innate immunity and stress resistance

  

THE GREENHOUSE

The Greenhouse features 2950 square feet of climate-controlled growing space for various projects, including faculty and student research and instructional laboratory use, and houses some of our permanent teaching and research plant collection.

Department of Biology
Mendel Hall Room 147 Villanova University
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085 
Tel: 610.519.4830
Fax: 610.519.7863

Chair:  Dennis Wykoff, PhD
Asst Chair:  Vikram Iyengar, PhD
Graduate Program Director: Anil Bamezai, PhD