Biology

Daniel Paluh, a Ph.D. candidate in David Blackburn’s lab, has been awarded a 2021 National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB). The Fellowship will fund Dan’s postdoctoral research on the developmental and molecular mechanisms of convergent tooth loss in frogs in the Fraser lab, Department of Biology, University of Florida. This project is […]

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Dr. Gareth Fraser, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology, was awarded a new National Science Foundation (NSF) grant through the Integrative Research in Biology (IntBIO) program to study the evolution of shark skin teeth from genotype to phenotype to prototype. This work, in collaboration with scientists at Harvard and Yale, will link the fields […]

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Biology graduate student Moein Rajaei, along with co-authors from UF, Eastern Washington University and Northwestern University, recently published a paper in Genome Research titled ” Mutability of mononucleotide repeats, not oxidative stress, explains the discrepancy between laboratory-accumulated mutations and the natural allele-frequency spectrum in C. elegans“. https://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.275372.121   Abstract: Important clues about natural selection can […]

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Dr. Teresa Mutahi, Senior Lecturer & Undergraduate Coordinator for the UF Biology Major, has been awarded a NACADA Certificate of Merit of the Outstanding New Advisor Award – Primary Advising Role. NACADA is the international association that promotes quality academic advising in higher education.  The NACADA Global Awards Program for Academic Advising honors individuals and institutions […]

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Biology graduate student Keon Wimberly (Ph.D. student in Keith Choe’s Lab) is the winner of the 2021 UF Genetics Institute Graduate Student Showcase!   The students involved in this virtual conference were from UFGI-affiliated labs.  They presented 3-minute talks on their research using one slide.  Keon was recognized for his talk, “Identification of a novel kinase in cell stress.” […]

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ESA Honors Four Biology Alums  The Ecological Society of America (ESA) has honored four Biology Department graduates with special awards.  Elected as 2021 Fellows of the ESA are Becky Ostertag (Putz Lab Ph.D. 1998; now Professor of Biology at University of Hawaii, Hilo) and Amy Zanne (Chapman Lab, Ph.D. 2003; now Associate Professor of Biological […]

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A publication from Biology Professor Derek Cummings’ Lab is being recognized as one of the most frequently read articles from Nature Communications in 2020 (Life and Biological Sciences). The article “A systematic review of antibody mediated immunity to coronaviruses: kinetics, correlates of protection, and association with severity” is also one of the top 50 SARS-CoV-2 publications […]

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Three Biology undergraduate students from Malcolm Maden’s Lab, Nicole Serrano (BS 2017), Monica Bermudez (BS 2019) and Aaron Sandoval (BS 2019) have co-authored a study published in the Journal of Anatomy (2020; 00:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13373) entitled “A profusion of neural stem cells in the brain of the spiny mouse, Acomys cahirinus.” 

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Congratulations to Biology Senior Lecturer Dr. Christine Davis for her award from the inaugural UF Research competition for Advancing Racial Justice Through Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access at the University of Florida.

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Biology assistant professor Ana Longo has been awarded a new research grant from the National Science Foundation entitled “Defining the role of skin microbiomes in defense against chytridiomycosis in frogs with seasonal infections.” 

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Research by Biology graduate student Ian Ausprey (Scott Robinson’s Lab) is highlighted in the journal Science!   The News article is entitled “Eye size predicts where birds breed and feed.” The original study is in a forthcoming issue of Ecology,  “Adaptations to light predict the foraging niche and disassembly of avian communities in tropical countrysides.”

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Biology alumnus Patrick Farrar sheds light on the experiences of international students.

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Biology graduate student Alexandra Gulick, with co-authors from the National Park Service and the UF Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research, recently published a paper in Ecology. Results of the study show that grazing by recovering green turtle populations stimulates seagrass productivity, and that grazing intensity has a relevant role in regulating the productivity […]

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Dr. Kent Vliet, Coordinator of Introductory Laboratories for the Department of Biology, has published a new book with Johns Hopkins University Press (2020):   Alligators: The Illustrated Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation.  Wonderfully illustrated with photographs by wildlife photographer Wayne Lynch, this authoritative book is fascinating reading for anyone interested in the ecology, behavior […]

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Biology Professor Matthew Leibold has been awarded a 5-year grant from the National Science Foundation “Understanding the Rules of Life: Microbiome Theory and Mechanisms” initiative.  The study, entitled “Searching for General Rules Governing Microbiome Dynamics Using Anaerobic Digesters as Model Systems,” is a collaborative effort with colleagues from the University of Oklahoma, UC-Davis and the […]

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Biology post-doctoral associate Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas and other members of the Schnitzler Lab have a new paper in Nature Scientific Reports.  The study describes a new method (electroporation) for delivering short hairpin RNAs (shRNA) into fertilized eggs of a hydrozoan cnidarian (polyp).   This experimental technique allows the researcher to target specific genes for knockdown (i.e. […]

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Ayush Saxena, recent Ph.D. from the Baer Lab,  has been awarded the “Best student paper of 2019” by the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.  The paper entitled “Evolution of the mutational process under relaxed selection in Caenorhabditis elegans” appeared in Molecular Biology and Evolution in 2018.  For further information see https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/36/2/239/5184273​

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UF Biology Spring/Summer 2020 Newsletter is live! Click here to view it now!

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