In the Biology Department, we especially enjoy working on research projects with students and we currently have 48 student-faculty research investigations in progress. Many students conduct these projects as part of university or departmental honors, some enroll for independent study credits and others participate in research simply for the experience. These investigations are funded by a variety of intramural and extramural grants and in a typical academic year, our department procures about $250,000 - $500,000 to support research. The following is an overview of these faculty sponsored investigations.

• Dr. Julie Ambler
  Tunicate population studies in Virginia costal waters.
• Dr. Jean Boal
  Conditional discrimination learning in cephalopods. Chemical communication and chemical sensation in mollusks.
• Dr. James Cosentino
  Hormone receptor histochemistry. Development of nanoscale biosensors.
• Dr. Susan DiBartolomeis
  Chlorella virus studies.
• Dr. Shawn Gallagher (Dr. Gallager is a neurobiologist in the Psychology Department and often works with biology majors.)
  Clinical eye research. Mydriatics and tear formation.
• Dr. Christopher Hardy
  Ecology, biogeography and antimicrobial properties of Commelina.
  Illustrated guide to invasive species of 'the Bush'. Botanical illustration.
• Dr. Carol Hepfer
  Genetics and genetic recombination studies with yeast
  Mechanism of sex determination in octopuses.
• Dr. John Hoover
  Design-based stereology in neuroscience.
• Dr. Timothy Ladd
  Bacterial biofilm investigations.
• Dr. Jay Moné
  Chlorella virus neutralization bioassays. Bovine leukemia virus studies.
• Dr. Joel Piperberg
  Effects of cholesterol and ethanol on the stability of the red blood cell membrane.
• Dr. Larry Reinking
  Inner ear development in zebrafish. Calcium channels and behavior in Paramecium. Response of Daphnia to hypoxic conditions.
• Dr. Ryan Wagner
  Time lapse photography of plant tropisms.
• Dr. John Wallace
  Queen snake as a biological control for invasive crayfish. Algal growth as a measure of postmortem submersion interval. Forensic entomology investigations. Impact of clandestine reptile shows on herpetofauna
  Populations. Mosquito population dynamics in southern Alabama.
• Dr. Daniel Yocom
  Streamside forest restoration studies. Studies in arthropod diversity.
• Dr. Yuan Zhong
  Plant comparative genomics. Regulation of leaf and flower senescence / PCD. Regulation of trichome differentiation.