NCSU CALS Biology - Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Research in the NCSU Dept of Biology
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Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Research in the NCSU Dept of Biology

Many of the faculty in the NCSU Department of Biology conduct research in ecology, evolutionary biology, and/or conservation biology -- three fields that have a tremendous amount of overlap.  Some of the critical issues addressed include the habitat requirements of different populations; factors important to movement, growth, reproduction, and mortality; and interactions among species.  Ecosystems studied include marine waters, coastal estuaries, rivers, lakes, forests, and deserts; and techniques applied range from genetic analyses to behavioral observations to modeling of population dynamics.  Many faculty research programs also look to apply their findings to better manage species and ecosystems. 

Dr. Derek Aday (home page)
 Research interests include aquatic ecology, fisheries biology, toxicology, and conservation, especially fundamental ecological questions that have application to the management and conservation of game and non-game fish species, and to understanding contaminant processes in aquatic foodwebs that influence human health.		 Dr. Tom Kwak (home page)
 Research interests include fish ecology and management, stream and watershed ecology, restoration ecology, and the impacts of habitat and environmental alterations on fish populations, with a goal of incorporating this work into fisheries conservation and management decisions.
Dr. Jeff Buckel (home page)
 Research interests include the ecology of marine, estuarine, and anadromous fishes, especially effects of abiotic and biotic factors responsible for recruitment variation; effects of predator-prey interactions at the population level; and improving estimates of population parameters used to assess fishery resources.
 Dr. John Miller (e-mail)
 Research interests include estuarine ecology, ecophysiology, and the recruitment and ecology of fishes.
Dr. Jaime Collazo (home page)
 Research interests include avian population dynamics, species-habitat relationships, predator-prey relationships in wading birds,  foraging ecology of migratory shorebirds, breeding productivity in forest birds, and endangered species research and conservation.  		Dr. Marianne Niedzlek-Feaver (e-mail)
 Research interests are in the evolutionary ecology of reproductive behavior with a focus on anthropod systems.
Dr. Rob Dunn (home page)
 Research is aimed at understanding the distribution of species and traits at large spatial and temporal scales, with a focus on the evolutionary, ecological and biogeographic consequences of dispersal of seeds by ants, the spatial and temporal dynamics of New World ant communities, and the mechanisms, magnitude and dynamics of extinctions, particularly of insects.		 Dr. Ken Pollock (home page)
 Research interests include applied statistical methods for fisheries and wildlife, especially estimation of demographic parameters for animal populations, sampling theory, population dynamics models, and fisheries tagging models.
Dr. James Gilliam (home page)
 Research interests include aquatic ecology and predator prey interactions, especially habitat selection by foragers under predation threat; modeling (optimization; behavior; population dynamics; animal dispersal); and population fragmentation and movement among local populations.		 Dr. Roger Powell (home page)
 Research interests include behavioral ecology and evolutionary ecology, with a focus on the effects of limiting resources on ecology, behavior, population biology, and morphology of animals, especially mammals.
Dr. John Godwin (home page)
 Research interests include molecular endocrinology, neurobiology and behavior with a primary focus on the mechanisms and evolution of animal behavior and sexuality. Application of neurobiological and genomic approaches to problems in behavioral biology and behavioral evolution.		 Dr. Jim Rice (home page)
 Research interests include predator-prey interactions and food web dynamics in aquatic systems, direct and indirect fish responses to hypoxia, and bioenergetics modeling of stress and predation.
Dr. Nick Haddad (home page)
 Research interests include ecological consequences of global change; effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on populations, communities, and ecosystems; and effects of habitat corridors on dispersal in fragmented landscapes. Application of ecological theory to conservation and management.		 Dr. Damian Shea (home page)
 Research interests include the fate and effects of toxicants in the aquatic environment through applying the tools of analytical toxicology, environmental chemistry, and environmental toxicology.
Dr. Hal Heatwole (home page)
 Research interests include vegetation dynamics, community ecology of islands and of deserts, herbivory in tree canopies, thermal ecology and water balance, diving physiology, and population biology.		 Dr. Ted Simons (home page)
 Research interests include avian ecology, wildlife biology, natural resource inventory and monitoring, and development of multidisciplinary approaches to the conservation of protected areas and species.
Dr. Joe Hightower (home page)
 Research interests include population dynamics, habitat use, stock assessment, and management of anadromous fishes, with a focus on estimating population parameters using methods such as tagging and hydroacoustics.