News
Thu, 09/01/2022
Journal of Science highlights Rivers’ Research (Opens in new window)
Dr. Trevor Rivers, assistant teaching professor in KU Biology, has spent valuable time carrying out research on bioluminescent ostracods.
Ostracods have been referred to by many names but are actually tiny crustaceans that light up the dark with their mating displays.
Check out the article for more information, images, and video, which focuses on how these Caribbean crustaceans are shining new light on evolution.
Many of the images and videos in the article were captured by Rivers.
Wed, 08/31/2022
#KUFieldWorks: Predicting future algae blooms to preserve safe drinking water (Opens in new window)
Ted Harris, an assistant research professor with the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, and a team of faculty, student and staff are examining long-term water quality changes in large Kansas lakes, especially changes related to blue-green algae, which can cause harmful algal blooms (HABs). Under certain conditions, cyanobacteria, colloquially known as blue-green algae, can grow rapidly in lakes. When too much of this algae is present, it releases toxins that can harm humans and other animals.
Harris led a number of trips this summer throughout the lakes within the Kansas River basin, including lakes Sebelius, Webster, Kanopolis, Milford, Waconda, Tuttle Creek, Perry and Lovewell.
Harris and his team use sediment to analyze the historical patterns of HABs, which can render water unsafe for consumption. Understanding when and why these blooms take place can help the state forecast and prevent them in the future.
Tue, 08/30/2022
Walters receives NSF grant to support research into the mechanisms and evolution of aging differences between males and females
Associate Professor James Walters, co-PI on the collaborative grant awarded by the National Science Foundation, will help discover how multiple biological processes contribute to differences in aging between females and males and uncover their evolutionary history.
In many animals, either females or males age faster or have a longer lifespan. This aging difference has significant implications for biodiversity, conservation, agriculture, and human health.
The grant is for approximately $12.5 million over 5 years with nearly $1 million coming to KU to support Walters’ research.
This grant also helps establish KU as part of a large, collaborative Biology Integration Institute (BII) to focus on this area of research.
Lead institute is the University of Alabama, Birmingham.
Mon, 08/22/2022
Teaching Innovation Award Presented in Honor of EEB Emeritus Professor Chris Haufler
The Christopher Haufler KU Core Innovation Award was presented to members of the Department of Philosophy at the Center for Teaching Excellence Event on Aug. 18.
This departmental teaching innovation award is in honor of EEB Emeritus Christopher Haufler.
The EEB department is thankful for Haufler's years of dedication to teaching excellence.
The award was presented to the Department of Philosophy for Philosophy 150: Philosophical Communication.
Accepting the award were Sarah Robins and Brad Cokelet.
Thu, 08/18/2022
EEB faculty members recognized for teaching excellence!
Professor Paulyn Cartwright was awarded the Ned N. Fleming Trust Award for teaching excellence.
EEB PhD recipient and now assistant teaching professor in KU Undergraduate Biology, Victor Gonzalez, was awarded the Bob & Kathie Taylor Excellence in Teaching Award.
Professor Mark Mort was awarded and will receive the Chancellors Club Teaching Professorship Award at a later date.
Award recipients were recognized August 18 at the KU Teaching Summit.
Wed, 08/17/2022
New principles for biological fieldwork will build equity for researchers and local communities
Mon, 08/15/2022
Agusto Receives NSF Grant
Dr. Folashade Agusto, associate professor in EEB, received 1 of 8 National Science Foundation awards on Incorporating Human Behavior in Epidemiological Models (IHBEM). Agusto is the primary investigator, and this award will be in collaboration with the University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute as well as George Mason University, The Inter American University of Puerto Rico, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Tue, 08/09/2022
KU College awards Baumgartner Professorship in Biology
LAWRENCE — The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Kansas has announced the inaugural award of the Baumgartner Professorship in Biology to Paulyn Cartwright, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. ...
Wed, 07/20/2022
Idea of ice age 'species pump' in the Philippines boosted by new way of drawing evolutionary trees
Tue, 07/19/2022
Justin Blumenstiel Receives Mentor Award
Congratulations to Justin Blumenstiel. He’s the recipient of the 2022 Grant Goodman Undergraduate Mentor Award! This award honors faculty whose mentorship continues to support and inspire students long after they leave the classroom.
Wed, 07/13/2022
Congratulations to three EEB professors for recent awards
Victor H. Gonzalez Betancourt received the Bob & Kathie Taylor Excellence in Teaching Award.
Mart Mort received the Chancellors Club Teaching Professorship.
Paulyn Cartwright received the Ned Fleming Trust Award.
Congratulations on your well-deserved achievements!
Thu, 07/07/2022
University of Kansas names five new distinguished professors
LAWRENCE – Five University of Kansas professors have joined elite company by being named distinguished professors. Sharon Billings and Marta Caminero-Santangelo received the designation of University Distinguished Professor, while Jie Han, Peter Ukpokodu and Lisa Wolf-Wendel received the designation of Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor. ...
Wed, 06/29/2022
Billings receives Byron A. Alexander Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award
Congratulations to Dr. Sharon Billings, recipient of the Byron A. Alexander Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award. This award is given to honor a faculty member who demonstrates exceptional effort, care, and guidance in advising graduate students.
Tue, 06/07/2022
Nine Jayhawks receive Undergraduate Research Awards for summer
LAWRENCE — This summer, nine University of Kansas students will receive an Undergraduate Research Award (UGRA). UGRA recipients are awarded a $1,000 scholarship as they work on mentored research and creative projects. ...
Thu, 05/12/2022
Center for Undergraduate Research honors students, mentors
LAWRENCE — In early May, the University of Kansas Center for Undergraduate Research honored the winners of the Courtwright Award for Undergraduate Research Excellence and the Undergraduate Research Mentor Awards. ...
Mon, 05/02/2022
KU's 'I Am Striving Series': Featuring Paulyn Cartwright (Opens in new window)
Paulyn Cartwright, professor of ecology & evolutionary biology, shares what inspires her research and work, along with her goals for that research.
Watch a video and read a story about how Cartwright uses her study subject, jellyfish and their relatives, to help understand the evolutionary biology of other animals.
"My primary goal as an educator and as a researcher is to broaden participation in science," Cartwright said.
Tue, 04/26/2022
Honoring Women in Science
In honor of Women’s History Month, the Biodiversity Institute & KU Natural History Museum celebrated women in science on Saturday, March 26.
Local scientists set up booths for the day, including Maggie Wagner, ecology and evolutionary biology assistant professor, and Ph.D. student Ceyda Kural, to share their science expertise with the community.
Those attending were able to participate in hands-on experiments, learn about different careers in science, and also learn about women scientists from around the globe.
Kural is specifically interested in plant microbe interactions, as well as phenotypic changes across environmental gradients.
Wagner and Kural talked with visitors about how plants have microbiomes that are important for their health, just like people do. They also had microscopes set up where visitors could view fungi colonizing grass roots.
The booth also included hands-on activity where visitors could plate out plant roots and leaves on agar, to take home and observe fungal growth over the next few days.
Tue, 04/26/2022
Join us for the EEOB Pizza Social!
Are you thinking about declaring the EEOB major or are you curious about EEOB?
Join us for pizza and meet EEOB majors and professors Friday, May 6, 2022!
The undergraduate committee is planning a Stop Day event for our EEOB major from 12 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Friday, May 6, 2022.
The event will take place outside the first floor west entrance to Haworth Hall.
Questions? Contact Dr. Fola Agusto by email at fbagusto@ku.edu.
Wed, 04/06/2022
Spring to Action: Support EEB GSO's LaunchKU Fundraiser
EEB's Graduate Student Organization's Spring LaunchKU Fundraiser is officially underway. Continuing until May 5, this fundraiser aims to attain funds to support graduate student travel scholarships and outreach work. If you are able to donate, please do so! You can also help by attending the Groupraise event April 21.
Thu, 03/31/2022
Ben Sikes receives boost from KU Research GO (Opens in new window)
Ben Sikes, associate professor, ecology & evolutionary biology, has received funding through KU's 2022 Research Grant Opportunity program as principal investigator for the project Space Stress Resistance of Microbial Communities.
KU Research GO aims to expand the university’s research enterprise by providing seed funding for projects poised to compete for external funding opportunities with application deadlines in the near future.
Fifteen projects were selected for funding through the program.
Wed, 03/30/2022
James Walters receives Fulbright Scholar Award to Czech Republic
LAWRENCE — James Walters, University of Kansas associate professor of ecology & evolutionary biology, has received a Fulbright Scholar Award to conduct research for nine months in the Czech Republic. ...
Tue, 03/29/2022
Dr. Jae Choi joins EEB as Genomics Assistant Professor
The Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department would like to welcome Dr. Jae Choi to KU. He will start his new role in January 2023.
Mon, 03/21/2022
Four researchers named recipients of the University Scholarly Achievement Award
LAWRENCE — Four midcareer faculty members at the University of Kansas will receive an award in recognition of their significant research or scholarly achievements in their field. ...
Mon, 03/21/2022
Paulyn Cartwright receives NSF DEB grant
Paulyn Cartwright, professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has received approval for a grant funded through the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology and KU will receive $494,890.
It is titled “Phylogeny of Cnidaria - Convergent Evolution of Eyes, Gene Expression, and Cell Types” with Todd Oakley (Lead PI, UC Santa Barbara) and MariaPia Miglietta (Texas A&M University). The group is reconstructing a detailed phylogenomic tree of Medusozoa in order to trace the evolutionary history of jellyfish eyes and using comparative transcriptomes and single cell RNA sequencing to determine similarities and differences in genetic pathways of convergent eyes.
Photo accompanying this story is a hydromedusae called Polyorchis pencillatus whose common name is red-eyed jellyfish. The red dots at base of the tentacles are eye spots called ocelli that contain light sensing cells. Photo credit goes to Anna Klompen.
Thu, 02/10/2022
Forty-nine KU students receive Undergraduate Research Awards for spring
LAWRENCE — This spring, 49 KU students will receive an Undergraduate Research Awards (UGRA). UGRA recipients are awarded a $1,000 scholarship as they work on research and creative projects with mentors from KU. ...
Thu, 02/03/2022
Rob Unckless, associate professor of molecular biosciences, is 1 of 10 finalists to advance in Research Rising (Opens in new window)
Unckless' proposal, Growing KU’s Interdisciplinary Strengths in Genomics, aims to unlock the secrets held in genomes to understand where we come from, how we fight disease, how organisms respond to a changing environment/climate, and new bioengineering approaches for sustainable development and health advances.