Faculty
Dr. Agusto's research work is focused on the use of mathematical and statistical modeling approaches to gain insight into the ecology and epidemiology of some emerging and re-emerging human and zoonotic disease of public health importance.
As a researcher, I am fascinated by the population biology of plants. Over the years, my work has primarily been in three areas: 1) studies of the ecology and evolution of plant-fungus and plant-virus interactions, 2) research on the population dynamics of wild sunflowers, and the ecology and genetics of hybridization between crop and wild plants, and 3) long-term demographic studies of a rare prairie plant, Mead's milkweed, including using "mark recapture" models to estimate population size, detectability, and probability of survival. As an educator, I teach courses in Kansas plants, conservation biology, biostatistics, and research methods. My outreach and service activities often involve outdoor education and interactions with secondary school teachers. I am currently on phased retirement and do not plan on taking on any new graduate students.
Dr. Atkinson's research uses the fossil record to reconstruct macroevolutionary patterns and relationships of seed plants. He typically focuses on Mesozoic and early Cenozoic conifers and flowering plants; however, other plants are fair game.
Dr. Baer is considered an expert in grassland, soil and restoration ecology. The Baer-lab studies above and belowground changes in structure (species and functional composition of plants and microbes) and function (primary productivity, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration) during ecological restoration in response to environmental heterogeneity, interannual variability in climate, and intraspecific variation in population sources of dominant species. Much of our research has focused on agroecosystems restored to tallgrass prairie.
Dr. Beard's research focuses on reconstructing the origin and early evolution of the order Primates and its major clades. He is especially interested in documenting how changes in the Earth's physical environment have impacted the evolution of early primates and other mammals.
Dr. Bever's research focuses on testing basic ecological and evolutionary processes occurring within plants and their associated fungi.
Dr. Billings' research characterizes the features governing nitrogen, carbon and water fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems, and how these dynamics are influenced by environmental change.
Dr. Blumenstiel's research is focused on understanding how both genetic and epigenetic systems evolve.
Dr. Brown is a herpetologist interested in understanding evolutionary processes of diversification in island archipelagos.
Dr. Burgin's research integrates across the fields of microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, and aquatic ecosystem ecology.
Dr. Cartwright's research focuses on understanding evolutionary patterns and developmental processes in medusozoans.
I am an evolutionary biologist that leverages the temporal and geographic breadth of natural history collections to understand how organisms respond to change through time. The foundation of my research is assessing the evolutionary consequences of climate cycling on the pattern and process of mammalian diversification.
Dr. de Boer studies the physiological basis of insect-plant interactions; he is a faculty advisor with KUUB.
Dr. Engel focuses on the taxonomy of bees throughout the world.
Dr. Foster studies the ecological forces that shape plant communities.
Dr. Gleason's research focuses on molecular evolution, behavioral genetics, and the evolution of courtship song in Drosophila.
Dr. Glor studies the evolution of biological diversity, focusing on adaptive radiation in Anolis lizards and other reptiles.
Dr. Hileman's research focuses on understanding the evolution of plant development with a focus on floral diversification.
Dr. Holder develops statistical and computational approaches for estimating genealogical relationships.
Dr. Jensen is a parasitologist specializing on coevolution and the systematics, diversity, and biogeography of the tapeworms that parasitize elasmobranchs.
Dr. Kelly studies evolutionary theory with applications to quantitative genetics and molecular population genetics..
Dr. Lieberman is a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist interested in macroevolution and the evolutionary history of invertebrates.
Dr. Matsunaga's research investigates plant evolution, phylogeny, and diversity through time using living plants and the fossil record.
Dr. Mort studies the evolutionary relationships of the angiosperm family Crassulaceae using DNA sequences from chloroplast and nuclear gene regions
Dr. Moyle's research seeks to understand the patterns and processes of avian diversification.
Dr. Orive's research area is theoretical population genetics.
Dr. Peterson's focuses on aspects of the geography of biodiversity with a focus on tropical ornithology and systematics.
Dr. Pierotti's research investigates the evolutionary biology of vertebrates with male parental care and socially monogamous breeding systems.
Dr. Reuman studies quantitative population, community, and landscape ecology.
Dr. Short's research program centers on elucidating the diversity, biology, and evolutionary history of aquatic beetles.
Dr. Sikes is a microbial ecologist whose research focuses on soil fungi, their community interactions and use in restoration
Dr. Smith's research combines molecular systematics with the study of social arthropods
Dr. Smith's research focus is the comparative evolutionary biology of fishes.
Dr. Soberón is mainly interested in documenting and understanding large-scale spatial patterns in the biodiversity of terrestrial species.
Dr. Thorp's research centers on the community and ecosystem levels of aquatic ecology.
My research focuses on the genetic basis of plants' interactions with their environment-- especially their microbial neighbors-- in both natural and agricultural systems. I use my training in quantitative genetics and evolutionary ecology to study the relationships between plant genotypes, phenotypes and microbiomes, toward the broad goal of improving the health of crops and wild plants facing environmental challenges.
My research focuses on evolutionary genomics in Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. I am particularly interested in the molecular evolution of sex chromosomes and reproductive traits. My work makes extensive use of next-generation sequencing data (i.e. Illumina) for measuring gene expression and genetic variation genome-wide. We also use shotgun proteomics to directly identify proteins found in complex biological samples, such as the saliva and also sperm of butterflies.
