Download EBIO Honors Program: Faculty Advisors

EBIO Honors Program
What is it?
The EBIO Honors program is a program for students in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Department who engage in independent research with a faculty advisor, and write and defend an Honors
thesis. Graduation with departmental, Latin Honors is dependent on your performance in the written
thesis, defense of the thesis, and your GPA. To help you along the way, there is a one-credit class (EBIO
4980) that Honors students take in the Spring, where you’ll give a practice defense and engage in
collegial discussion and critique of each another’s projects. For more information, please contact Drs.
Barbara Demmig-Adams ([email protected]) or Pieter Johnson
([email protected]), our EBIO Honors Council Representatives!
Why do it?
Students who have completed an EBIO Honors thesis report that this experience was the single
most rewarding aspect of their academic experience at CU! It allows you to engage in your education in
a unique and challenging way, paving the way for your development as a researcher, and more generally,
an independent thinker. In addition to those personal benefits, an Honors thesis is a highly valuable asset
for a number of reasons:
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Entry into graduate programs or medical school
Personal and insightful letters of recommendation from your thesis advisor
Boosts your résumé/CV and makes you stand out for future employers
What do I need?
To graduate with departmental Honors, you need:
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Official application to the CU Honors program (see website
http://www.colorado.edu/honors/graduation.html for deadlines)
A cumulative GPA of about 3.3 or higher
Enrollment in the EBIO 4980 Spring Honors seminar (1-3 Independent Research/Thesis Writing
credits via EBIO 4990 are optional)
Honors thesis and defense
With whom can I work?
There are many faculty members in EBIO, from many different sub-disciplines of biology, who are
excited to invest in you as an undergraduate researcher! Choose from animal behavior, biogeochemistry,
conservation, plant/animal/microbial ecology or evolution, and plant physiology. Please see below for a
list of EBIO Faculty Advisors and their research areas!
Contact Us! If you have ANY questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your Departmental
Honors Representatives ([email protected] and [email protected]).
EBIO Honors Program: Faculty Advisors
Plants: Physiology, Conservation, & Ecosystem Interactions
Dr. William Adams: Plant ecophysiology; photosynthesis; environmental stress; phloem structure & function
Dr. Nichole Barger: Biogeochemistry, forest ecology, management & restoration of aridland ecosystems
Dr. William Bowman: Plant ecology; alpine ecosystem science; plant-soil and plant-plant interactions
Dr. Sharon Collinge: Habitat loss & fragmentation; patterns of landscape change; restoration ecology
Dr. Kendi Davies: Community & population dynamics; invasion / extinction; grasslands; microcosms
Dr. Barbara Demmig-Adams: Plant ecophysiology & stress adaptation, antioxidants; diet-gene interaction
Dr. Katharine Suding: Restoration ecology, invasive species, global change, grassland and alpine biodiversity, Niwot Ridge
Dr. Carol Wessman: Landscape & regional ecology; disturbance; land-use/land-cover change; remote sensing/GIS
Animals: Behavior, Ecology, & Conservation
Dr. Michael Breed: Behavior and ecology of social insects (ants, bees, wasps)
Dr. Alexander Cruz: Behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary studies of birds and fishes
Dr. Sam Flaxman: Predator-prey interactions, movement, and space use by animals
Dr. Pieter Johnson: Invasive species & emerging diseases; aquatic ecology & evolution; conservation
Dr. Christy McCain: Community ecology; biodiversity & biogeography of vertebrates; montane conservation
Dr. Valerie McKenzie: Parasitology, disease ecology, amphibians, wildlife conservation
Dr. Brett Melbourne: Ecological modeling, extinction, endangered and invasive species, conservation
Dr. Chris Ray: Population biology, biogeography, behavior, climate change and conservation
Water & Aquatic Organisms
Dr. William Lewis: Water quality, lakes, streams, wetlands; aquatic food webs; biogeochemistry
Dr. Patrick Kociolek: Freshwater Ecology; taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of diatoms
Microbiology & Soils
Dr. Noah Fierer: Soil Ecology, microbial ecology, role of microorganisms in terrestrial ecosystems
Dr. Steven Schmidt: Microbial ecology; plant/microbe interactions; biogeochemistry; mycorrhizae
Dr. Tim Seastedt: Terrestrial ecosystem ecology; soil biology; ecology of invasive species
Evolution, Natural & Sexual Selection
Dr. Deane Bowers: Insect ecology and evolution, plant-animal interactions, chemical ecology
Dr. Nolan Kane: Evolutionary genomics; ecology, evolution, and genetics of (plant) adaptation and speciation
Dr. Andrew Martin: Evolutionary & conservation biology; microbial diversity; biogeography
Dr. Daniel Medeiros: Genetic and developmental changes driving early vertebrate evolution
Dr. Jeffry Mitton: Evolutionary dynamics of mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA
Dr. Rebecca Safran: Sexual selection, vertebrate social behavior, genetics/behavior of speciation, avian ecology
Dr. Stacey Smith: Evolutionary genetics, molecular phylogenetics, plant-pollinator interactions
Dr. David Stock: Developmental genetic mechanisms of the evolution of teeth in fishes
Dr. Erin Tripp: Plant systematics; evolution of biodiversity; lichen biology