Undergraduate Advising
Instructions for Declaring a Biology Major
As of October 2026, the Department of Biology has a new process for students declaring a major within our department. Students will be paired with both the Biology Senior Academic Advisor and a Biology Faculty Advisor. All students should use the process described below to declare their major. Students should not directly email faculty about advising requests. They should follow the process described below.
View major declaration steps (PDF)
STEP 1: Go to Tufts Student Forms and submit the Declare a Primary Major form.
• Select Biology, Biochemistry, or Biopsychology
• Indicate whether you have already spoken with a faculty advisor in the Notes section (write the faculty member's name in that field) and by responding Yes or No to the "I have communicated with the faculty advisor..." prompt. No prior communication with a faculty member about advising is required to declare a major in the Department of Biology.
• When asked for Advisor Name and Advisor Email, enter BiologyAdvising@tufts.edu. Do not write a professor's name or email for this step.
STEP 2: Complete the onboarding questionnaire. After submitting your major declaration, you will receive a “Get to Know You” questionnaire. You will identify a few professors that you want as your advisor. Scroll down to the bottom of this page for a list of faculty who can serve as Biology Faculty Advisors.
STEP 3: Meet with the Biology Senior Academic Advisor. You will be invited to meet with Kelly Curtis, the Biology Senior Academic Advisor. Options will include one-on-one appointments, group sessions, and drop-ins, both in-person and online.
STEP 4: Connect with your Biology Faculty Advisor. You will be paired with a Biology Faculty Advisor (a professor in the department). Kelly Curtis will introduce you to your Biology Faculty Advisor by email and help set up faculty advising meetings.
Questions about this process? Please reach out to BiologyAdvising@tufts.edu.
Advising Support for Department of Biology Undergraduates
As a Biology major, you'll have access to many resources to help guide your academic and career decisions, both before and after you declare. You can attend info sessions or meet with the Senior Academic Advisor, the Undergraduate Coordinator, the Biology Ambassadors, or Faculty Advisors to find courses that align with your interests and goals. More information about each resource is below.
- Biology Senior Academic Advisor
The Biology Department has a dedicated Senior Academic Advisor, Dr. Kelly Curtis, who works with students as they declare a Biology major and throughout their academic planning in the department. The Senior Academic Advisor works in partnership with Biology faculty and the Tufts advising team to help students navigate degree requirements, explore their interests within Biology, and connect with appropriate academic and campus resources.
- Attend Biology Department Info Sessions
The Department of Biology hosts an open house at the start of the Fall and Spring semester, for all undergraduates who want to learn more about the department. Topics covered include Biology Resources at Tufts, How to Declare a Biology Major, Research in the Biology Department, Majors, "Concentrations", Courses within Tufts Biology, and more. To stay informed, subscribe to the weekly newsletter and the Biology Instagram account.
- Meet with the Biology Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Biology Department Undergraduate Coordinator Anne Maxime hosts Virtual Open Office Hours during the semester every Wednesday from 1:00-2:00 pm via Zoom. This is an opportunity for students to drop in and ask any questions regarding the Biology major, courses offered, requirements, form information, resource information or to say "Hi." If you cannot make the office hours, please email Anne Maxime to ask a question or set up a meeting.
- Learn more from your peers, via our Biology Undergraduate Student Ambassadors
The Biology Ambassadors program is designed to foster community and collaboration among our undergraduate students and the department. Our ambassadors are a dedicated group of experienced students eager to help their peers with different aspects of the biology program, including selecting courses, choosing a major, and discovering research opportunities. To stay informed, subscribe to the weekly newsletter and the Biology Instagram account.
You may discuss your questions with a peer advisor by sending us an email, or by attending our Biology Ambassadors' weekly office hours every Monday from 12:00–1:00 PM in Anderson Hall Room 306.
Learn more about our Biology Undergraduate Student Ambassadors
Biology Faculty Advisors
As your academic advisor, a professor can help you decide which courses serve your needs and interests, how to get involved in independent research, and the preparation needed for different types of careers, medical school, graduate school, etc. If you get to know your advisor well enough, they will be in a good position to write you a letter of recommendation in your junior or senior year. An academic advisor in the Biology Department is an important resource for your career at Tufts and beyond.
Students should connect with faculty in their courses, at office hours, and at other department events, but please do not reach out to faculty directly to request that they become your faculty advisor. Please see the process described at the top of this page for how to get connected with both the Biology Senior Academic Advisor and a Biology Faculty Advisor.
Faculty Advisors
Douglas Blackiston, Assistant Professor (PhD, Georgetown University)
Research interests: Developmental Biology, Animal Behavior, Engineered Living Systems, and Biorobotics.
Lauren Crowe, Assistant Teaching Professor (PhD, Duke University)
Research interests: Cell biology
Frank David, Professor of the Practice (MD-PhD, Columbia University Medical Center)
Research interests: Biopharma valuation, Clinical trial analysis and Regulatory policy.
Robert de Bruijn, Assistant Teaching Professor (PhD, Tufts University)
Research interests: Stress & Conservation Physiology. Animal Behavior
Rebecca Delker, Assistant Teaching Professor (PhD, Rockefeller University)
Research interests: Molecular Immunology
Chris Desjardins, Professor of the Practice (PhD, University of Maryland)
Research interests: Bioinformatics
Erik Dopman, Associate Professor (PhD, Cornell University)
Research interests: Evolution and genetics of natural populations
George Ellmore, Associate Professor (PhD, University of California, Berkeley)
Research interests: Experiment Plant Anatomy and Morphology, developmental fate of bioactive compounds in garlic, plant functions in the tropical dry forest.
Catherine H. Freudenreich, Professor (PhD, Duke University)
Research interests: Molecular Biology and Genetics, study of human trinucleotide repeat diseases using yeast as a model system, replication and repair of repetitive DNA, chromosome fragility.
Jaye Gardiner, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Research interests: Cancer biology
Smita Gopinath, Assistant Professor (PhD, Stanford University )
Research interests: Microbiology, Immunology
Sarah Hengel, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of Iowa)
Research interests: The mechanisms by which DNA damage is recognized and repaired by DNA repair proteins.
Alfredo Hernandez, Associate Professor (PhD, Texas A&M University)
Research interests: Enzymology of DNA replication, mitochondrial DNA, nucleic acid biochemistry, and non-canonical DNA structures
Fatima Hussain, Assistant Professor (PhD, M.I.T)
Research interests: Vaginal Microbiome, Microbial Ecology and Evolution, Phage-Bacteria Interactions and Bacterial Immunity
Mimi Kao, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of California, San Francisco)
Research interests: Neurobiology and behavior
Michael Levin, Vannevar Bush Chair, Professor and Director of Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology
Research interests: Morphological and behavioral information processing in living systems.
Zarin Machanda, Assistant Professor (PhD, Harvard University)
Research interests: Biological anthropology, primatology, chimpanzee behavioral ecology
Katherine Mattaini, Assistant Teaching Professor (PhD, M.I.T)
Research interests: General Biology
Helen McCreery, Assistant Teaching Professor (PhD, University of Boulder, Colorado)
Research interests: Biostatistics
Kelly A. McLaughlin, Associate Professor (PhD, University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
Research interests: Molecular Development (organogenesis),signaling pathways used during the formation of embryonic organ systems
Mitch McVey, Professor (PhD, M.I.T.)
Research interests: Genetics and molecular biology, study of genome instability using Drosophila as a model system, molecular mechanisms of DNA repair, recombination, and damage tolerance.
Ekaterina "Kate" Mirkin, Assistant Teaching Professor (PhD, University of Illinois)
Research interests: Genetics
Sergei Mirkin, Professor, White Family Chair in Biology (PhD, Russian Academy of Sciences)
Research interests: Genetics and molecular biology, replication of simple and not-so-simple DNA repeats, molecular models for repeat expansions, mechanisms of transcription-replication interplay, unusual DNA structures, mechanisms of genome rearrangements
J. Michael Reed, Professor (PhD, North Carolina State University)
Research interests: Avian ecology and Conservation Biology; population viability, extinction risk, animal behavior as it relates to population biology
L. Michael Romero, Professor (PhD, Stanford University)
Research interests: Physiology and Field Endocrinology: Stress-what it is, its importance in survival and disease; its underlying mechanisms. With emphasis on hormones in wild birds and reptiles
Colin. M. Orians, Professor, Department Chair (PhD, The Pennsylvania State University)
Research interests: Ecology: plant-herbivore interactions, plant responses to environmental heterogeneity, tropical ecology
Randi Rotjan, Associate Professor (PhD, Tufts University)
Research interests: Marine ecology and global change
Philip Starks, Associate Professor (PhD, Cornell University)
Research interests: Research Animal Behavior: Recognition systems, evolution of sociality, parasite and host relationships, behavioral and chemical communication, invasion genetics
Khoa Tran, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Research interests: Epigenetics, Aging, Cellular senescence, and Protein Regulation
Barry A. Trimmer, Professor: Henry Bromfield Pearson Professor of Natural Science (PhD, University of Cambridge, England)
Research interests: Neurobiology (cellular and molecular processes underlying behavior)
Eric D. Tytell, Assistant Professor (PhD, Harvard University)
Research interests: Biomechanics and Neural Control of Locomotion
Benjamin Wolfe, Assistant Professor, Associate Department Chair, (PhD, Harvard University)
Research interests: Ecology, and evolution of microbial communities