Ecology, Behavior and Evolution

Faculty, post-docs, and graduate students in this concentration work on diverse aspects of ecology, behavior, and evolution. Their research encompasses areas such as micro- and macro-community ecology, species interactions, population biology and genomics, behavioral studies, stress physiology, adaptation, speciation, and life history evolution. By integrating fieldwork with laboratory studies, they aim to identify key ecological and evolutionary patterns and investigate the mechanisms generating those patterns. Their studies span various biological systems, including plants, microbes, and animals in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial environments.

Faculty Mentors

(* Asterisk denotes faculty mentors currently not accepting graduate students.)

Doug Blackiston
Erik Dopman
Fatima Aysha Hussain*

Colin Orians*
Michael Reed*
Michael Romero

Randi Rotjan
Phil Starks*
Eric Tytell
Ben Wolfe*

Faculty Advisor for this Concentration

Colin Orians

Professor and Department Chair of Biology

Agroecology, climate change, climate adaptation, plant-herbivore interactions

Suggested Program of Study and Appropriate Courses

Masters students work with their mentor and/or their entrance committee to select courses that best meet the academic goals.
Our general philosophy regarding coursework is that you take only classes that you need to pick up skills that are important to your research (if taking a course is indeed the best way to pick up those skills!), as well as courses that deepen your knowledge in your specific research area. It's OK with us if you want to take an unrelated course just because it looks really interesting, as long as it does not distract you too much from your research… Consequently, the list below is NOT a list of courses that you ought to take if you are interested in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution. Rather, these are courses that you might wish to consider taking to complement a particular research expertise that you are developing. Ultimately, the decision about what classes to take will be up to you and your committee.
Required
Year 1
- Two research Rotations (PhD students only, 1 rotation per semester); research rotations are registered as courses (Bio 253, Bio 254) – they are generally done with faculty in the Biology Department, but mentors outside the department can also be enlisted.
- (or first year that you are a teaching assistant): All students that are Teaching Assistants are required to take Pedagogy (Bio 260)
Year 1 or 2
Seminar in Evolutionary Ecology (Bio 244) (offered in alternate years)
Optional Courses
Biology Department Courses
- Bioinformatics (Bio 40)
- Endocrinology (Bio 110)
- Physiology of Movement (Bio 117)
- Animal Behavior (Bio 130)
- Biostatistics (Bio132)
- Ecological Stats & Data w/lab (Bio 133)
- Ecology of Animal Movement (Bio 135)
- Population and Community Ecology (Bio 142)
- Evolutionary Biology w/lab (Bio 143)
- Principles of Conservation Biology (Bio 144)
- Seminar in Marine Biology (Bio 179)
- Seminar in Conservation Biology (Bio 180)
- Tropical Ecology and Conservation (Bio 181)
- Chimpanzee Behavioural Ecology (Bio 182)
- Darwinian Medicine Seminar (Bio 183)
- Food for All: Ecology, Biotechnology and Sustainability (Bio 185)
- Seminar in Field Endocrinology (Bio 186)
- *Seminar in Evolutionary Ecology (Bio 244)
- Science Communication (Bio 262)
- Special Topics (Bio 293/294)
Courses in Other Departments
- Environmental Toxicology (CEE 157)
- Introduction to Remote Sensing (CEE 189)
- Environmental Statistics (CEE 202)
- Environmental Data, Analysis, and Visualization (ENV 170)
- Advanced GIS (GIS 102)
- Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS 101/UEP 232)
- Environmental Ethics (UEP 286)