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| A Marquesas Island lorikeet moves through the forest canopy. (Steve Jordan, photo) |
Ecology and Evolution at
Bucknell
In recent years, the Bucknell University Department of Biology has established a dynamic group of professors and postdoctoral researchers with teaching and research interests in ecology, evolution, botany, behavior, conservation, and other aspects of organismal biology. This is a young group of professors, with internationally recognized research programs spanning a wide range of ecological, behavioral, and evolutionary questions. Particular strengths include botany, vertebrate and invertebrate behavior, aquatic ecology, plant/animal interactions, systematics, and entomology.
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Some of our field sites shown in red. |
Each
of these professors is a teacher/scholar with active research projects involving
undergraduate and possibly masters-level students. The geographical and intellectual
breadth of these research programs is impressive, ranging from studies on the
effects of acid mine drainage in Pennsylvania streams to the mating system of
frigate birds on northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Extensive resources for ecological and evolutionary studies are available at Bucknell, many on par with those found at major research universities. But here at Bucknell, they are destined to enrich the undergraduate learning experience. These facilities include research and collections greenhouses, an imaging center, a state-of-the-art environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), advanced molecular biology and physiology labs (including DNA sequencing and typing capabilities), extensive behavior labs (including colonies of four primate species for non-invasive research), an herbarium with 20,000 plant accessions, important collections of birds, mammals, fishes, and invertebrates, and high-end computing facilities. Furthermore, Bucknell has cooperative agreements with several field stations (including Florida's Archbold Biological Station) to host our research and teaching activities. Bucknell also owns the 66 acre Chillisquaque Creek Natural Area located 11 miles east of campus, a mixed succession stream-side farm that is available for student projects. Additionally, Bucknell is a member of the Woods Hole Marine Science Consortium, the Organization for Tropical Studies, and the Duke University Marine Sciences Education Consortium.
Bucknell University is a national leader in placing its students in Ph.D. programs, and has course offerings on par with major research universities. Bucknell's programs in Animal Behavior and Environmental Studies are strong, and many of our first-year students choose to live in the Environmental Residential College. In brief, we offer students interested in undergraduate studies in Ecology and Evolution all the amenities of a major research university, but within the context of a student-centered, liberal arts education. As faculty, we have chosen Bucknell because of the opportunities it gives us to teach the subjects and students we love, well.
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Ecology and evolution, plant-animal interactions, conservation biology. |
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Primate behavior and social cognition. |
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Social insects. |
Aquatic ecology, human impacts on natural systems, ecosystem ecology, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). | |
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Animal behavior, evolution, ornithology. |
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Animal physiology. |
| Adaptation of ectothermic vertebrates and invertebrates to severe cold. |
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Microbiology, molecular biology of domesticated plants/animals. |
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Molecular systematics and evolution of insects, emphasizing aquatic insects of Hawaii and Oceania. |
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Evolutionary aspects of plant development. |
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Plant-insect interactions. |
Maps courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps used with permission.
