Biology faculty members are committed to excellence in teaching and research, engaging students in coursework and creative inquiries by promoting the free and
friendly interchange of ideas.
Current Faculty
Seán P. O'Connell, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Department Head; microbial ecology, diversity of bacteria and archaea in soils and waters, zymurgyKathy Gould Mathews, Ph.D., Associate Professor; Assistant Department Head, H. F. and Katherine P. Robinson Professor of Biology; plant systematics
Greg Adkison, Ph.D., Instructor; human biology, environmental biology
Chris Beyer, M.S., Lab coordinator for introductory biology lab
Indrani Bose, Ph.D., Assistant Professor; molecular biology of Cryptoccucus neoformans virulence
Kefyn M. Catley, Ph.D., Professor, Science Education Coordinator, Director Western Regional Science Fair; systematics and biology of spiders
Chris Coburn, Ph.D., Assistant Professor; control of gene expression
Beverly Collins, Ph.D., Associate Professor; plant community ecology
James T. Costa, Ph.D., Professor; Director, Highlands Biological Station; evolutionary genetics and behavior of social insects, especially social Lepidoptera and Symphyta
Laura E. DeWald, Ph.D., Associate Professor; ecological genetics, restoration ecology, conservation biology
Weaver Haney, M.S., Lecturer; microbiology
Darby Harris, Ph.D., Lecturer; molecular physiology, genetics
Sonja Himes, M.S., Lecturer; anatomy and physiology, environmental biology
Jeremy Hyman, Ph.D., Associate Professor; evolution, behavioral ecology, ornithology
Karen Kandl, Ph.D., Assistant Director Highlands Biological Station; ecology, anatomy and physiology
Joe Bill Mathews, DVM, Lecturer; anatomy and physiology, animal physiology
Jessica L. Moore, Ph.D., Associate Professor; genetics, cancer biology
Joseph Pechmann, Ph.D., Associate Professor; population and community ecology, herpetology, wetlands ecology
Malcolm R. (Mack) Powell, Ph.D., Professor; immunology and infectious diseases
Thomas H. Martin, Ph.D., Associate Professor; Interim Direct, Highlands Biological Station; population and community ecology of aquatic organisms, with particular emphasis on the life history and population dynamics of littoral predators and their prey, and on stream fish movement and habitat fragmentation
Sabine J. Rundle, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director; molecular biology of plant development
Lori Seischab, Ph.D., Assistant Professor; molecular pathology and biophysics
Anjana Sharma, Ph.D., Instructor; microbiology, plant biology, human biology.
Emeritus Faculty
Richard C. Bruce, Ph.D., Duke University; life histories, ecology, and evolution of plethodontid salamandersFrederick A. Coyle, Ph.D., Harvard University; systematics, behavior, and ecology of spiders.
Fred D. Hinson, Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; microbiology, bacterial cytotechnique, antigen-antibody reactions involving Salmonella species.
James Horton, Ph.D., University of North Carolina; plant anatomy
Roger H. Lumb, Ph.D., University of South Carolina; lipid biochemistry, dynamics of lipids in membranes
Henry R. Mainwaring, Ph.D., University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; mycology, cell biology, DNA content and cell division rates
Allen Moore, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin; aquatic ecology
James W. Wallace, Jr., Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin; plant biochemistry, physiology, and distribution of secondary metabolites; medicinal plants of the southern Appalachians; biological photography
Jerry L. West, Ph.D., North Carolina State University; fishery biology, ecology of fish in the southern Appalachians
C. Paul Wright, Ph.D., University of Utah; lethal mutants and developmental genetics of Drosophila melanogaster