Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology Research

These are broad interdisciplinary research fields that include the study of organisms (including humans) and their relationship to the environment; the patterns of distribution of organisms and factors that determine where organisms live; as well as connections and interactions between the atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.

Research in Evolutionary Biology at KSU includes a common interest in how the mechanisms of organismal form, function, and interactions evolved. Inquiry is directed toward understanding biological systems at the individual, population, community, species, and molecular levels of organization. Major conceptual areas pursued by our department include foraging ecology, population genetics, phylogenetics, population and community molecular ecology, and the molecular evolutionary mechanisms underlying novel organs and pathways.

Organismal biology is the integrative study of structure, function, ecology, and evolution at the level of the organism, which can also play a central role in answering conceptual questions about both ecology and evolution. Current research programs include behavioral, toxicological, and population-level studies that focus on humans, non-human apes, fishes, and snails.

Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. The learners may be children, adolescents, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process, socioscientific issues, and pedagogy. Our research is typically collaborative in both secondary school classrooms and informal settings, using quantitative and qualitative research methods applied to traditional studies of teaching and learning as well as citizen science activities that involve engaging the public in scientific discovery through data collection.