47 faculty and 0 courses in Biology at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
- Tobias Baskin, Professor h-index 84
Regulation of Plant Morphogenesis During Growth & Development Plant forms have long delighted artists and naturalists with their variety and beauty. These forms arise through morphogenesis in a process that depends on growth. Cel
Notable: “Stomatal Size, Speed, and Responsiveness Impact on Photosynthesis and Water Use Efficiency” (2014) · 1,120 citations
- Duncan J. Irschick, Professor h-index 62
Functional Morphology, Evolution, and Behavioral Ecology Duncan J. Irschick is an integrative biologist and innovator interested in the evolution and ecology of animal athletics, and how biological form informs synthetic design. Some
Notable: “Integrating Function and Ecology in Studies of Adaptation: Investigations of Locomotor Capacity as a Model System” (2001) · 461 citations
- Lynn Adler, Distinguished Professor h-index 47
Ecology and Evolution of Insect-Plant Interactions Although many ecological and evolutionary studies focus on single species or two-species interactions, there is a growing recognition that the factors determining the distribution and abun
Notable: “Crop pests and predators exhibit inconsistent responses to surrounding landscape composition” (2018) · 636 citations
- Jeffrey Podos, Professor h-index 45
Mechanisms and Evolution of Vertebrate Behavior; Bioacoustics Research in my laboratory addresses the interface of animal behavior, organismal biology, and evolutionary biology. We are particularly interested in a question first arti
Notable: “Correlated evolution of morphology and vocal signal structure in Darwin's finches” (2001) · 743 citations
- Margaret Riley, Professor h-index 44
Microbial Ecology and Antimicrobial Drug Discovery I have a broad set of research interests that range from studies of experimental evolution of microbes to developing novel antimicrobials and redefining the microbial species concept
Notable: “Bacteriocins: Evolution, Ecology, and Application” (2002) · 1,265 citations
- Ana L. Caicedo, Gilgut Professor h-index 40
Plant Molecular Evolution and Evolutionary Genomics Adaptive evolution, the product of natural selection, underlies much of all biological diversity. My research seeks to understand the genetic basis of adaptation, as well as the pop
Notable: “Major Impacts of Widespread Structural Variation on Gene Expression and Crop Improvement in Tomato” (2020) · 889 citations
- R. Craig Albertson, Professor h-index 39
Evolutionary Developmental Biology Research in my lab aims to better understand the relationship between genotype and phenotype (i.e., G-P). For reasons of experimental utility and evolutionary richness, our main experimental model i
Notable: “Phylogeny of a rapidly evolving clade: The cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi, East Africa” (1999) · 371 citations
- Paul S. Katz, Professor, Department Chair, Director of Initiative on Neurosciences h-index 38
Dr. Katz is interested in the structure, function, development, and evolution of nervous systems. In particular, his lab focuses on the nervous system of the nudibranch mollusc, Berghia stephanieae. Unlike vertebrates, Berghia, octop
Notable: “Neurons, Networks, and Motor Behavior” (1996) · 485 citations
- Benjamin Normark, Professor h-index 37
Evolution of Unusual Genetic Systems The laws of genetics are not universal. While many species have classical Mendelian genetics, in which both parents contribute equally to the genomes of all offspring, several other genetic system
Notable: “Ancient asexual scandals” (1996) · 570 citations
- Jeffrey Blanchard, Associate Professor h-index 36
Microbiomes, Ecology, Evolution, Genomics, Bioinformatics Microbiome research is one the most exciting areas of science today. Our laboratory’s long-term research goal is to contribute to the understanding of forest microbial c
Notable: “Untangling the Genetic Basis of Fibrolytic Specialization by Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae in Diverse Gut Communities” (2013) · 1,042 citations
- Elsbeth Walker, Professor h-index 35
Plant Genetics and Physiology Iron Homeostasis in Plants Iron Homeostasis in Plants Iron is one of the most important and most problematic of all the micronutrients used by living organisms. Iron is an essential cofactor for many cel
Notable: “Maize yellow stripe1 encodes a membrane protein directly involved in Fe(III) uptake” (2001) · 1,060 citations
- Samuel P. Hazen, Professor h-index 35
Molecular and Cellular Biology, Plant Biology Department of Biology University of Massachusetts 221 Morrill Science Center III 611 North Pleasant Street Amherst, MA Footer Academics Research News People About Give
Notable: “An Arabidopsis gene regulatory network for secondary cell wall synthesis” (2014) · 785 citations
- Adam Porter, Associate Professor h-index 34
Evolutionary Biology; Computational Biology Research Areas Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department of Biology University of Massachusetts 221 Morrill Science Center III 611 North Pleasant Street Amherst, MA
Notable: “Oceanic Hitchhikers – Assessing Pathogen Risks from Marine Microplastic” (2020) · 485 citations
- Rolf O. Karlstrom, Professor h-index 31
Developmental Neurobiology: Axon Guidance, Forebrain Patterning, and Pituitary Developement My laboratory uses zebrafish as a simple vertebrate system to study how the forebrain and pituitary gland develop, and to investigate how axo
Notable: “Zebrafish mutations affecting retinotectal axon pathfinding” (1996) · 304 citations
- Andrew Stephens, Assistant Professor h-index 29
Molecular and Cellular Biology Why you should care about nuclear mechanics and morphology - Abnormal nuclear morphology has been associated with human disease since the development of microscopes that could image the nucleus of the c
Notable: “Chromatin and lamin A determine two different mechanical response regimes of the cell nucleus” (2017) · 505 citations
- Lillian Fritz-Laylin, Professor and HHMI Investigator h-index 28
Quantitative Evolutionary Cell Biology Cell biology’s roots reach back over 300 years, at least as far as Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of motile “animacules” in a drop of water. From the beginning, one of the clearest signatures
Notable: “The Chlamydomonas Genome Reveals the Evolution of Key Animal and Plant Functions” (2007) · 2,706 citations
- Alexander R. Gerson, Associate Professor h-index 28
Integrative Eco-physiology - Environmental Physiology of Birds My interests lie in the field of integrative eco-physiology and my research has focused primarily on the environmental physiology of birds. I seek to understand how birds
Notable: “Mapping evaporative water loss in desert passerines reveals an expanding threat of lethal dehydration” (2017) · 234 citations
- Elizabeth M. Jakob, Professor and Associate Dean for Student Success, Graduate School h-index 24
Neuroscience and Behavior, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department of Biology University of Massachusetts 221 Morrill Science Center III 611 North Pleasant Street Amherst, MA Footer Academics Research News P
Notable: “Estimating Fitness: A Comparison of Body Condition Indices” (1996) · 1,256 citations
- Sarah Pallas, Professor h-index 24
Developmental Neuroscience, Sensory Neurophysiology
Notable: “Visual behaviour mediated by retinal projections directed to the auditory pathway” (2000) · 375 citations
- Elena Vazey, Associate Professor h-index 23
Neuromodulation and Neurodegeneration It is clear that brain functions are not determined by individual neurons but by many coherent networks interacting. Our lab focuses on understanding the balancing act between cells and circuits
Notable: “Designer receptors show role for ventral pallidum input to ventral tegmental area in cocaine seeking” (2014) · 374 citations
- Thomas J. Maresca, Professor h-index 23
Cell Division We study the vital process of cell division. The goal of cell division is to ensure equal segregation of the genome, which is packaged into a defined number of chromosomes, between two daughter cells. Mistakes in this p
Notable: “Importin β Is a Mitotic Target of the Small GTPase Ran in Spindle Assembly” (2001) · 380 citations
- Courtney C. Babbitt, Professor of Biology and Commonwealth Honors College h-index 22
Evolutionary Genomics My research is in evolutionary genomics and I am interested in changes in gene regulation over evolutionary time that impact phenotypic change. In particular, I investigate the evolution of cis-regulatory elemen
Notable: “Convergent adaptation of human lactase persistence in Africa and Europe” (2006) · 1,650 citations
- Gerald B. Downes, Professor h-index 17
Motor Behavior and Epilepsy
Notable: “The G Protein Subunit Gene Families” (1999) · 331 citations
- Karine Fenelon, Assistant Professor h-index 17
Synaptic Transmission and Neural Circuits Underlying Sensory Information Filtering Our brain is constantly exposed to a myriad of sensory information coming from the ears, eyes, nose, mouth, skin, muscles, joints and internal organs.
Notable: “Deficiency of Dgcr8 , a gene disrupted by the 22q11.2 microdeletion, results in altered short-term plasticity in the prefrontal cortex” (2011) · 208 citations
- Michelle Facette, Associate Professor h-index 16
Plant Biology Representative Publications: Facette, MR, Park Y, Sutimantanapi D, Luo A, Cartwright, H, Yang, B Bennett EJ, Sylvester AW, and Smith LG. 2015. The SCAR/WAVE complex polarizes PAN receptors and promotes divis
Notable: “Toward a Systems Approach to Understanding Plant Cell Walls” (2004) · 1,289 citations
- Akiko Okusu, Senior Lecturer h-index 15
Invertebrate Evolution and Phylogeny Evolution Molluscan Bauplan Molecular Systematics Representative Publications: Normark, Benjamin B, A. Okusu , G. E. Morse, D. A. Peterson, T. Itioka, and S. A. Schneider. “Phylogeny a
Notable: “Broad phylogenomic sampling improves resolution of the animal tree of life” (2008) · 1,965 citations
- Maria Stager, Assistant Professor h-index 15
My research program focuses on determining the mechanisms that enable organisms to mount responses to changing environmental conditions. This work integrates tools from physiology, ecology, and genomics, as well as combines la
Notable: “Divergence and Functional Degradation of a Sex Chromosome-like Supergene” (2016) · 399 citations
- Caleb M. Rounds, Senior Lecturer II, Associate Department Chair, and Undergraduate Program Director h-index 13
Plant Physiology I am interested in the physiological mechanisms that allow for tip growth in highly polarized plant cells. Specifically, I focus on lily pollen tubes and to a lesser extend the moss Physcomitrella patens. These two s
Notable: “Lifeact-mEGFP Reveals a Dynamic Apical F-Actin Network in Tip Growing Plant Cells” (2009) · 224 citations
- Randall W. Phillis, Associate Professor h-index 10
Neurogenetics of Drosophila In my laboratory we are applying the techniques of Drosophila genetics to problems in developmental neurobiology. This work stems from a project in which we isolated and characterized mutations that disrup
Notable: “A stable genomic source of P element transposase in Drosophila melanogaster.” (1988) · 1,351 citations
- Laura I. Francis, Senior Lecturer II h-index 10
Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function Although I do not have an active research lab, I remain interested in fundamental questions of how cells control their function at the molecular level. As a graduate student and post-doctoral res
Notable: “Mec1 Is One of Multiple Kinases that Prime the Mcm2-7 Helicase for Phosphorylation by Cdc7” (2010) · 166 citations
- Elizabeth A. Connor, Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and Development h-index 9
Neuromuscular Junction: Development and Maintenance Communication between a motor neuron and a skeletal muscle fiber takes place at a synapse, the neuromuscular junction. Here both the neuron and muscle fiber are specialized in molec
Notable: “Cell accumulation in the junctional region of denervated muscle.” (1987) · 84 citations
- Andrew J. Spracklen, Lecturer h-index 9
Actin Cytoskeleton & Cell Adhesion during Development One of the most fascinating things in all of biology is the ability of a single cell (the zygote) to give rise to an organism consisting of thousands, millions, or even trilli
Notable: “The pros and cons of common actin labeling tools for visualizing actin dynamics during Drosophila oogenesis” (2014) · 152 citations
- Yelena Bernadskaya, Assistant Professor h-index 8
All reproducing multicellular animals sculpt their body plans from a single fertilized egg. While they achieve incredible diversity in form and function they must all use the same building blocks deployed in context-dependent w
Notable: “The WAVE/SCAR complex promotes polarized cell movements and actin enrichment in epithelia during C. elegans embryogenesis” (2008) · 113 citations
- Rosa Moscarella, Senior Lecturer h-index 8
Genetics Education Although I am trained as a biologist, the focus of my research interest shifted to biology education. Teaching is a scholar, data-driven activity that I approach using the same scientific principles I learned as a
Notable: “What Are They Thinking? Automated Analysis of Student Writing about Acid–Base Chemistry in Introductory Biology” (2012) · 91 citations
- Tristram G. Seidler, Extension Assistant Professor and Director of the UMass Natural History Collections h-index 6
Plant Diversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Areas Plant Biology Department of Biology University of Massachusetts 221 Morrill Science Center III 611 North Pleasant Street Amherst, MA Footer Academics
Notable: “Widespread sampling biases in herbaria revealed from large‐scale digitization” (2017) · 413 citations
- Caralyn Zehnder, Senior Lecturer II h-index 6
Population & Community Ecology, Entomology, and Science Education Research Areas Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department of Biology University of Massachusetts 221 Morrill Science Center III 611 North Pleasant Street Amher
Notable: “Metabolic costs incurred by crayfish (Procambarus acutus) in a trace element-polluted habitat: further evidence of similar responses among diverse taxonomic groups” (2001) · 107 citations
- Jessica M. Rocheleau, Lecturer h-index 6
Molecular and Cellular Biology Representative Publications: Rocheleau, JM. Converting a Cell Biology Laboratory Course from Cookbook labs to Guided Inquiry Investigations. Tested Studies for Laboratory Teaching, Pr
Notable: “KCNE Peptides Differently Affect Voltage Sensor Equilibrium and Equilibration Rates in KCNQ1 K+ Channels” (2007) · 61 citations
- Amanda Cass, Lecturer h-index 5
I am an evolutionary biologist broadly interested in the developmental mechanisms that generate morphological novelty, particularly in ray-finned fishes. My research has used a variety of techniques to characterize gene expression patterns
Notable: “Deep evolutionary origin of limb and fin regeneration” (2019) · 76 citations
- Joshua Lonthair, Lecturer h-index 4
Conservation Physiology of Fishes I am fascinated by how an animal’s physiology can be modulated to allow adapt to a changing and possibly hostile environment, especially in the context of global climate change. Over the last decade
Notable: “The early life stages of an estuarine fish, the red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), are tolerant to high pCO2” (2016) · 32 citations
- Peter W. Houlihan, Senior Lecturer II h-index 3
Animal Behavior, Vertebrate Ecology, and Conservation Biology Research Areas Neuroscience and Behavior, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department of Biology University of Massachusetts 221 Morrill Science Center III 611 North Pl
Notable: “Song development by grey catbirds” (1997) · 78 citations
- Steven D. Brewer, Senior Lecturer II h-index 2
As a non-tenure-track faculty member, I seek to empower students to conduct small scale research projects often related to local ecology and natural history. These have included surveys of tardigrades and terrestrial mollusks (contri
Notable: “Work in Progress: Exploring the Role of Makerspaces and Flipped Learning in a Town-Gown Effort to Engage K12 Students in STEAM” (2015) · 9 citations
- Abigail Jensen, Associate Professor
Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Vertebrate Retinal Development and Retinal Disease Vertebrate photoreceptors are specialized light sensing neurons that have a morphology and die in retinal degeneration diseases, including macula
- Amanda Raimer, Lecturer
I am interested in using genetic and molecular techniques to study disease. In graduate school I utilized fruit flies as a model to study the function of the SMN protein and elicit how patient mutations in the gene lead to the neuro
- Brian Whyte, Lecturer
- Cana Park, Assistant Professor
The Park Lab is dedicated to advancing our fundamental understanding of cognitive decline associated with aging and age-related neurological conditions, with a specific focus on body-to-brain communication.
- Christiane I. Healey, Senior Lecturer II
Ecology, Evolution, and Animal Behavior Research Areas Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department of Biology University of Massachusetts 221 Morrill Science Center III 611 North Pleasant Street Amherst, MA
- Tadasu Nozaki, Assistant Professor
Chromosomes are living information media within the cell, integrating digital genetic information with their physical entity. The processing of this information relies on molecular interactions, thermodynamic fluctuations, and mechanical fo
Roster/catalog compiled from the college’s public directory. Faculty counts are directory headcounts; the named list may be a subset. h-index shown only for ORCID-backed or high-confidence OpenAlex matches. Data as of 2026-07-02.