The Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology provides interdepartmental training for MS and PhD students in ecology, organismal and evolutionary biology. Graduate students, post-docs, and faculty study biological processes ranging from the molecular to the ecosystem level, often bridging the gap between basic and applied research. Our faculty and students conduct research in four broad areas:

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Huber Recognized as Outstanding New Faculty

At the end of her first year as Assistant Professor at Randolph-Macon College, Sarah Huber (PhD '07) was selected by students as their Outstanding New Faculty Member. Congratulations Sarah!

OEB Student Outreach in Springfield Schools

When OEB Grad Students decided that science outreach was important, Laura Parfrey and Sharlene Santana spearheaded the development of a new section within the OEB website to connect local school teachers with OEB Grad Student experts. Throughout the spring, Dan Lahr, Sharlene Santana, Laura Parfrey, Dana Moseley, Kim Ogden, Rachel Bolus and David Hof traveled to Springfield classrooms to share their interests with elementary school students. The seven recently received a big hand-made card from the students and their teachers:

Dear Scientists, Thank you for showing us bats, birds, germs and bacteria. Please come back to show us more science!

Find out more about their efforts: Student Outreach

Natasha Taft's Dissertation Defense

2:30 p.m., Thursday, April 23, OEB Seminar Room
Dissertation Title: Functional and comparative morphology of the pectoral fins among benthic "scorpaeniform" fishes
Committee Chair: Cristina Cox Fernandes
The seminar portion of the defense is open to the public

Micah Dunthorn's Dissertation Defense

2:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 1, OEB Seminar Room
Dissertation Title: Ciliate biodiversity and phylogenetic reconstruction assessed by multiple molecular markers
Committee Chair: Laura Katz
The seminar portion of the defense is open to the public

OEB Celebrates Darwin's 200th Birthday

OEB will mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, February 12, 1809, with two events.

6:00 p.m., Thursday, February 12
101 Campus Center
Daniel Fairbanks, author of the 2007 book, Relics of Eden: The Powerful Evidence of Evolution in Human DNA, will sculpt a likeness of Darwin while recalling formative events in Darwin's life and discussing his importance to modern science.

4:00 p.m., Friday, February 13
319 Morrill (OEB seminar Room)
Norm Johnson, will speak about Darwin in the age of the genome.
A birthday celebration, complete with cake, will follow the seminar.

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