Research

Undergraduate Research

The department of Biology encourage undergraduate students to participate in research, guided by faculty mentors. Meanwhile you make Biol 499 Special Problems in Biology. There are different research grants available to support undergraduate research. Contact your advisor or any faculty member for further information. Research is integrated within several undergraduate courses.

Graduate Research

Our graduate programs are well recognized national wide. Most of our graduate students are working on research projects closely related to their advisors' specialized areas.

Recent Undergraduate Research Awards

  • Physiological Section, LiCOR Prize, Botanical Society of America, Mitch Hall, poster, The effectiveness of tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) modified with a Hessian fly-responsive(Hfr) gene against phloem-feeding and chewing insects, Faculty Mentors: Dr. David Puthoff & Dr. Sunshine Brosi, Abstract

  • Honorable mention for the Julia F. Morton Award, Mitra Karimian, poster: Analysis of Dulcimer Makers in Appalachia, Society for Economic Botany 51st Annual Meeting, Xalapa, Mexico. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sunshine Brosi

  • Ronald E. McNair Ambassador Award for Exemplifying the Life, Values and Qualities of Dr. Ronald E. McNair, Christopher Massimino, Summer Research Institute 2009, Metabolic Profiling of in vitro Cultured Medicinal Plants: Actaea racemosa L., University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, University of Maryland, College Park. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sunshine Brosi

Recent Graduate Awards

  • Edmund H. Fulling Award, Seedling Establishment of American Chestnut, Society for Economic Botany, Michael McCampbell*, Sunshine Brosi, Thomas Hall, Arnold Saxton, and Scott Schlarbaum, 2011, Castanea dentata, in Pennsylvania, presentation, Cherokee, NC, June.

  • Julie F. Morton Award, Society for Economic Botany, Amanda Vickers, Chromatographic quantification of medicinal compounds in flowering and non-flowering wild-harvested Actaea racemosa L. Botany 2011, Healing the Planet, St. Louis, Missouri,  July 9-13. Faculty Mentors: Dr. David Puthoff & Dr. Sunshine Brosi

  • Traditional Ecological Knowledge Student Merit Award:  Natalie A. Walsh, 2009, poster: Stratification protocols and germination rates of open-pollinated families of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.) from three western Maryland state forests:  Population dynamics of a medicinal herb native to the Appalachian Mountains (poster), 94th Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM, August.  Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sunshine Brosi

Faculty Research

  • Dr. Sunshine Brosi is the coordinator of the Wildlife and Fisheries, Interpretive Biology and Natural History, and Ethnobotany Majors.  Urban Forestry, economic and environmental sustainability of non-timber forest products including: black cohosh, American ginseng, bloodroot, goldenseal, and ramps.  Educational outreach in ethnobiology, forestry, and natural resources.
  • Dr. Karen Keller: Digestive physiology; Biomarkers of nutrient status; Bioavailability of minerals; Neurophysiology; Relationship of nutrients and behavior.
  • Dr. Thomas D. Lambert: Mammal community structure; Small Mammal Ecology; Conservation Biology; Affects of Disturbance on Communities; Foraging Theory; Seed Predation & Dispersal; Tropical Ecology.
  • Dr. Hongqi Li: Morphology, Anatomy, Systematics, and Evolution of Vascular Plants; Paleobotany, Gigantopterids, Biogeochemistry, and Origin of Angiosperms. Click here to see his research and his personal web site for further information. He has organized the 6th International Carnivorous Plant Society Conference, June 1-5, 2006, at FSU.
  • Dr. David P. Puthoff: My area of research focuses on plant interactions with their pathogens with an especial focus on the interactions with insect pests. In addition, studies on insect pest prevalence and abundance, along with population genetic analysis will help provide the best strategies for pest elimination. Click here to see his research.
  • Dr. Richard L. Raesly: Ecology and evolution of introduced species; evolution and systematics of freshwater fishes; biology of endangered species; stream ecology.
  • Dr. William L. Seddon is the director of the FSU Biotechnology Training Center and his research covers comparative physiology; biochemical mechanisms of temperature adaptation in freshwater fishes; primary tissue culture, molecular biology. Click here to see his research.
  • Dr. Thomas L. Serfass is the Chair of the Biology Department. Ecology and management of wildlife populations, wildlife techniques, wildlife reintroductions, carnivore behavior and ecology. Click here to see his research. He organized the IXth International Otter Colloquium, June 6-10, 2004, at FSU.
  • Dr. Rebekah Taylor: Dr. Taylor’s research interests are centered on immunology, specifically the immune responses and tissues in the mucosal layers of the intestine.  Recent projects have included the characterization and analysis of microscopic lymphoid tissues called cryptopatches and isolated lymphoid follicles in the small intestine of wild animals, including field mice (Peromyscus sp.) and fish (C. commersonii).  These tissues have been shown to form and change dramatically in response to diet and inflammation in laboratory animals, but little is known about cryptopatches and isolated lymphoid follicles in wild vertebrates.  Dr. Taylor mentors undergraduate and graduate students who have an interest in learning advanced biological techniques such as small mammal trapping and handling, dissection and cryopreservation, tissue sectioning, histochemical staining, and immunofluorescence microscopy to complete research projects in this area.