Faculty Research in Biology

The Faculty in the TCNJ Biology Department are amazing, accomplished Teacher-Scholars, who not only teach in our classrooms and labs, but are also engaged in research, most often with student collaborators. Here is information on what research our faculty are engaged in, and what tools and techniques are employed in their labs.

Professor Luke Butler, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques Used
Ecophysiology of birds, with a focus on seasonal and annual cycles Effects of natural and human-caused disturbances on wild birds	Field work Lab work Behavioral analysis

Professor Wendy Clement, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques Used
Evolution of plant diversity using phylogenomics Evolution of fusion in honeysuckles Plant-insect interactions among plants, pollinators, and their herbivores	Lab work and microscopy Genomics and bioinformatics (using the TCNJ high performance computing cluster) Field work and studies of natural history specimens

Professor Gary Dickinson, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques Used
Marine animal physiology Structural biology and biomechanics Biological responses to climate change	Microscopy Biomechanical testing Larval biology

Professor Curt Elderkin, PhD

Research Interests

Tools and Techniques used

Professor KT Elliott, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Bacterial genetics Ribosomal RNA Large mutations	Molecular biology Microbiology

Professor Jeffery Erickson, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Maturation of cardiorespiratory control in neonatal animals Role of serotonin in cardiorespiratory maturation Serotonin-deficient animal models for SIDS	Whole-animal measurement of breathing and heart rate Electrophysiological measurement of neural circuits Immunohistochemistry

Professor Tracy Kress, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Regulation of gene expression using bakers yeast as a model organism Coupling between transcription and RNA processing Functions for prion-like proteins in regulating RNA splicing	Cell and Molecular Biology Biochemistry Genetics

Professor Donald Lovett, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Osmoregulation in crabs Gene expression Physiology	Gene expression Molecular biology

Professor Janet Morrison, PhD

Research Interests

Tools and Techniques used

Professor Sudhir Nayak, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Genetics Genomics Bioinformatics	Genetics Molecular biology Bioinformatics

Professor Marcia O’Connell, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Embryogenesis in zebrafish Maternal control of early development Translational control of development	Embryo manipulation and microinjection Molecular biology

Professor Keith Pecor, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Ecology Behavior	Fieldwork Lab work Surveys

Professor Nina Peel, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Regulation of microtubules by the post-translational modification glutamylation The redundancy of function among the five glutamylating TTLL enzymes The functions of the deglutamylating enzyme CCPP-1 in non-neuronal cells	Genetics Microscopy Molecular biology

Professor Howard Reinert, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Ecology Herpetology Conservation biology	Radio telemetry Field work

Professor Leeann Thornton, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Plant responses to environmental stress, such as heat, drought, cold, and insect attack Genetic regulation of enzymes that help plants acclimate to environmental stress Understanding the biological mechanisms of plant stress so that we can predict what food crop varieties are more likely to do well in adverse climate conditions	Plant growth experiments, comparing normal plants to ones missing certain genes DNA and RNA extraction and PCR to study gene regulation (molecular biology) Protein structure and function (biochemistry and computational biology)

Professor Matthew Wund, PhD

Research Interests	Tools and Techniques used
Evolutionary ecology Animal behavior	Animal behavior experiments Morphological measurements