Undergraduate Advising

By majoring in biology, you'll have access to many resources to help guide your academic and career decisions, including resources that are accessible both before and after you declare your major. You can attend info sessions, meet with the Biology Undergraduate Coordinator, the Biology Ambassadors, or Faculty Advisors to determine which courses align with your interests and goals. It is recommended that you declare your major before meeting with a Faculty Advisor. Below is more information about these 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.
  
  You may discuss your questions with a peer advisor by sending us an email, or by attending our Biology Ambassadors' weekly office hours, which will be held twice a week during the semester every Mondays 12:00PM-1:00PM and Thursdays 4:00PM-5:30PM in the Biology Dept Shared Office, Robinson Hall Room 350.

Learn more about our Biology Undergraduate Student Ambassadors

Biology Faculty Academic 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.

How to Find a Biology Advisor

There are two ways for students to find a Biology advisor:

1. Email the Biology Department: Biology majors can fill out the Academic Advisor Request Form, to be assigned an advisor. If desired, you may indicate a first, second, and third choice on the form. For Biopsychology, Biochemistry, and Biotechnology majors, please use option 2 below.
    
2. Direct Request: If you have a particular faculty that you'd like to have as an advisor, you can directly contact them to inquire about advising availability. For Biopsychology, Biochemistry, and Biotechnology majors or double majors, you may choose an advisor in either associated department.

Note that some faculty may not be accepting advisees if they are at their advising limit for a particular year, in which case you will be assigned an advisor that has capacity. All Biology faculty can provide relevant advice. If you need advice on a particular topic or course, you may always go to office hours of the relevant Biology faculty member (even if not your advisor) or take advantage of the Biology Ambassador office hours for peer-to-peer information.

Once you’ve completed 1 of the 2 steps above, you can check your advisors' availability by viewing their office hours, which are posted on the bulletin board across from the Biology Department office in Robinson Hall, Room 369.

Once a faculty member has agreed to be your advisor, please complete the Declare a Primary Major Form. Remember to provide your advisor's email address so they can be notified and sign the form electronically.

Forms for Undergraduate Students

Declare a Primary Major Form Declare an Additional Major Form Add a Minor Form

Faculty Advisors Available for Fall 2024

Robert de Bruijn, Lecturer (PhD, Tufts University)
Research interests: Stress & Conservation Physiology. Animal Behavior
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Erik Dopman, Associate Professor (PhD, Cornell University)
Research interests: Evolution and genetics of natural populations
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

George Ellmore, Associate Professor, Department Vice Chair (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
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Sarah Hengel, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of Iowa)
Research interests: The mechanisms by which DNA damage is recognized and repaired by DNA repair proteins.
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

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
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

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
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

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
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Colin. M. Orians, Professor (PhD, The Pennsylvania State University)
Research interests: Ecology: plant-herbivore interactions, plant responses to environmental heterogeneity, tropical ecology
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

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
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

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)
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Eric D. Tytell, Assistant Professor (PhD, Harvard University)
Research interests: Biomechanics and Neural Control of Locomotion
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Lawrence Uricchio, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of California, San Francisco)
Research interests: Population genetics and computational biology
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Benjamin Wolfe, Assistant Professor (PhD, Harvard University)
Research interests: Ecology, and evolution of microbial communities
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Faculty Not Currently Available for Advising

Frank David, Professor of the Practice (MD-PhD, Columbia University Medical Center)
Research interests: Biopharma valuation, Clinical trial analysis and Regulatory policy.
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Fatima Hussain, Assistant Professor (PhD, M.I.T)
Research interests: Vaginal Microbiome, Microbial Ecology and Evolution, Phage-Bacteria Interactions and Bacterial Immunity
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Lauren Crowe, Lecturer (PhD, Duke University)
Research interests: Cell biology
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Catherine H. Freudenreich, Professor, Department Chair (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.
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

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
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Helen McCreery, Lecturer (PhD, University of Boulder, Colorado)
Research interests: Biostatistics
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

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
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

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.
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Ekaterina "Kate" Mirkin, Lecturer (PhD, University of Illinois)
Research interests: Genetics
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

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
Not accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Katherine Mattaini, Lecturer (PhD, M.I.T)
Research interests: General Biology
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Zarin Machanda, Assistant Professor (PhD, Harvard University)
Research interests: Biological anthropology, primatology, chimpanzee behavioral ecology
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024

Mimi Kao, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of California, San Francisco)
Research interests: Neurobiology and behavior
Accepting undergraduate advisees for Fall 2024