Office: SC 245聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-5300聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail:聽acostac@nku.edu
Dr. Acosta studies community ecology and populations of key species in aquatic ecosystems. His students have focused their research on applications to conservation science and resource sustainability. Dr. Acosta is currently studying invasive dynamics of crayfish, modeling fishing impacts on Caribbean lobsters, and documenting biodiversity patterns on coral reefs.
Office: SL 412聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-5415聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: bowlingb2@nku.edu
Dr. Bowling's research interests focus on effective practices in genetics education, student misconceptions in genetics, and the incorporation of bioinformatics into genetics curricula. Some of her recent work has broadened into student success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs and initiatives to increase retention such as peer mentors and early undergraduate research opportunities.
Office: SC 150聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-1407聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail:聽boycer@nku.edu
A main area of Dr. Boyce's research centers around聽the effects of invasive woody plants, especially Amur honeysuckle. He's been聽examining how native plant communities recover after honeysuckle has been聽removed. He is also looking at how honeysuckle is responding to outbreaks of a聽native pathogen, honeysuckle leaf blight. Recently, Dr. Boyce extended his work to a聽recent invader, Callery (Bradford) pears, which has moved from yards to the聽wild. Another area of research centers around photosynthesis and water use by聽eastern red cedar, our only native evergreen tree. Measurements of chlorophyll聽fluorescence and sap flow show that carbon uptake is substantial outside of the聽growing season, which may explain why it can thrive in our region.
Office: SC 346聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-1965聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail:聽cooperjo@nku.edu
Dr. Cooper's research interests are centered around understanding the diversity, evolution, and physiological ecology of eukaryotic algae and their neighboring microbes in freshwater ecosystems. Additional projects include documenting and describing the diatom diversity of our local and regional watersheds. Dr. Cooper is in the process of curating and describing species from Ecuador housed in the 51爆料下载 Diatom Herbarium collection.
Office: SC 344聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-6914聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail:聽curranc1@nku.edu
Dr. Curran's research is in understanding how environmental toxicants聽affect the brain, leading to deficits in learning and memory and altered聽behavior. Understanding how genetic differences (polymorphisms) affect聽susceptibility or resistance to environmental toxicants such as polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Office: SC 248聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-5733聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: dahlem@nku.edu
Dr. Dahlem's research involves the discovery of new聽structural features of flesh flies to allow species level identifications of聽New World flesh flies and blow flies (Sarcophagidae聽& Calliphoridae) by聽morphological features. He has been exploring the use of stacked digital聽photography and 3-D scanning to render high quality photos or (potentially) 3-D聽models of key morphological features to help non-specialists accurately聽identify specimens of these flies. He provides identifications for聽researchers in other disciplines. For example, he is currently working to聽identify a group of flies reared as predators of turtle egg clutches in聽Wisconsin. Dr. Dahlem also provide identifications and information on flesh flies聽reared from human corpses at crime scenes for crime labs around the United聽States. He writes a column on new and interesting entomological research for the聽magazine American Entomologist, and has given numerous forensic entomology demonstrations聽for school groups, libraries, and museums.
Office: SC 148 聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-6637聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: durtsche@nku.edu
Understanding how ectotherms (fish,聽amphibians, and reptiles) respond (physiologically) to varying ecological聽conditions, both biotic (invasive species) and abiotic (climate change), are聽drivers of the research questions addressed in Dr. Durtsche's lab. All of his research聽activities involve undergraduates collaborators. Current research聽topics include: 1) testing potential climate change impacts on the metabolism聽of Kentucky stream fishes; 2) monitoring the effects of invasive plant control聽on native amphibian and reptile populations; and 3) developing digital imaging聽tools to determine the nutritional quality of macroinvertebrates for use in聽ecological models of drift foraging by fish.
Office: SC 253聽聽 | 聽 Phone: (859) 572-1542 聽 | 聽 E-mail: ghoshroys1@nku.edu
Dr. Ghosh Roy鈥檚 research interest is in understanding the impacts of human-induced stresses on aquatic ecosystems using bioindicators. Some of the stress factors she has investigated are - nutrients from agricultural pollutants, metals from industrial contaminations, or antibiotics from human consumption. Currently, Dr. Ghosh Roy is working on a research project aimed at identifying potential bioindicators or bio remediators (specifically for metals and antibiotics) in a waste-water treatment plant in Kentucky.
Office: SC 247聽聽 | 聽 Phone: (859) 572-5305聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: hopfenspek1@nku.edu
Dr. Hopfensperger began her career focused on using science聽to better understand our ecosystems and manage our environment for multiple聽stakeholder needs. This work focused on investigating feedbacks between plant聽communities and ecosystem processes, such as nutrient cycling, and how these聽dynamics change with human influences. Her current work also includes invasive species and terrestrial聽habitats. Her research hinges on working with many partners and disciplines to聽make our region more sustainable, equitable, and healthy for all. For her, the聽icing on the cake is getting to share all of this with 51爆料下载 students - to get them in the trenches working on real environmental issues with real organizations in the space we all live, work, and play.
Office: SC 244 聽 | 聽 Phone: (859) 572-5277聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: mesterj1@nku.edu
Dr. Mester's research interests are in stopping disease causing microbes in their tracks by developing novel vaccines and antimicrobial treatments. Creating healthy foods and beverages via microbial fermentation.
Office: SC 343 聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-6929聽 |聽聽 E-mail: oluochs1@nku.edu
Dr. Oluoch's research interests pivot around applying quantitative methods such as stated preferences, revealed preferences, econometrics, and modelling to answer key environmental concerns spanning both urban and rural societies, in both developing and developed world contexts. His research focus strives to integrate practical environmental science and management approaches to key research questions on energy transition, renewable energy, energy security, and environmental justice. Dr. Oluoch is聽 specifically interested in exploring how to integrate public perspective in the development of environmental policies. His main emphasis is to develop linkages in academic and research endeavors in the subject areas of sustainability science with a strong emphasis on human-environmental interactions, climate risks and responses, species conservation and natural resource management.
Office: SC 254 聽 | 聽 Phone: (859) 572-6674聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: parkera10@nku.edu
Dr. Parker is an eco-epidemiologist, which means she聽studies the intersection between ecology and disease. Her research focuses on mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit in human-dominated landscapes. Since we do not have vaccines for many of the viruses spread by mosquitoes, controlling mosquito populations is the best way to prevent diseases transmission. She looks at how mosquito species distribution and abundance varies based on how humans have altered the environment and how humans knowledge, attitudes, and mosquito control practices affect potential for mosquito-borne diseases to spread. Dr. Parker then uses this information to create outreach tools to work to reduce mosquito populations. Her research allows her to work with her community partners and the public.
Office: FH 359D 聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-5188 聽 |聽聽 E-mail: robertsonde@nku.edu
Dr. Robertson's research interests are broad. She has聽worked in both a marine environment on spiny lobster populations, and now聽on milkweed population recovery and management. The underlying theme is聽research at the population level regardless of the environment. she has and聽continues to explore the success of populations by better understanding聽population size over time, reproduction, growth and success of a population in聽the context of the greater environment in which they live. Her current research聽focuses on understanding the success of milkweed as this species of flowering聽plant is tied to the success of Monarch butterfly populations. Dr. Robertson is working聽with colleagues and students to better understand restoration and management聽impacts on the success of milkweed. They are also working to develop a sampling聽system using drone photography and GIS to map milkweed in restored areas over聽time and keep better track of population sizes and densities. Their goal is to聽promote better restoration and management of milkweed in hopes of positively聽impacting Monarch butterfly populations.
Office: SC 354聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-5303聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: sarchetb1@nku.edu
Dr. Sarchet researches water聽balance: aquatic vs. terrestrial environments; thermoregulation and energetics: ectotherms vs. endotherms; applications of logic in the scientific method: the roles of inductive and deductive logic; metaphysics and epistemology: how knowledge of the physical world is acquired, understood and applied; and the crossroads of ethics and science.
Office: FH 359G聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-5933聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: schultheisp@nku.edu
Dr. Schultheis聽uses molecular biology tools to study聽the function of P-type transport ATPase proteins. Most recently, using a mouse聽model, he has shown that mutations in ATP13A2 (PARK9) are associated with Kufor-Rakeb聽Syndrome, a rare genetic form of Parkinson鈥檚 disease, and neuronal ceroid聽lipofuscinosis, a聽lysosomal storage disorder.
Office: SC 347聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-1409聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: shifleye1@nku.edu
As a developmental biologist, Dr. Shifley is interested in understanding how organs develop in the early vertebrate embryo聽and she uses the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, as聽a model organism. Her research is focused聽on discovering and understanding the genetic signals that coordinate proper development. Even during early stages of development,聽embryonic tissues become differentiated from one another and eventually undergo聽morphogenesis to form the organs of the adult body. These tissues are guided by different聽molecular signals instructing them to differentiate into the various聽organs. Dr. Shifley's research is focused on聽discovering and understanding how these genetic signals coordinate聽proper聽embryonic development. This聽research聽is important because it can help explain why certain birth defects occur and聽it can help inform聽research aimed at directing stem cells into specific lineages for therapeutic聽purposes.
Office: SC 204E聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-6635聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: stromee1@nku.edu
Dr. Strome's research聽is in studying genes聽involved in regulating genome
stability. Her lab works to utilize the model organism Saccharomyces聽cerevisiae and聽create gene mutations to identify roles in instability. Aneuploidy聽assays, looking for abnormal chromosome numbers, allows them to view mutations and聽their roles in this cancer-associated phenotype.聽Their goal is to discover聽genes whose human homologs might be studied for their roles in cancer聽incidence.
Office: SC 246聽聽 | 聽 Phone: (859) 572-5301聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: thompsone1@nku.edu
Research projects in Dr. Thompson's laboratory examine the physiological and toxicological implications concerning waterborne metals and organic herbicides. For example, Atrazine聽is an聽herbicide used in no-till farming and is frequently found in surface water such聽as within the Ohio River watershed. While atrazine has been shown to have聽adverse effects on non-target species, there is a lack of information examining the聽potential impact of commercially available atrazine products, especially聽considering the additional ingredients often included in these formulations. His research also works with studies of the physiology of squirrelfish, which have shown that female squirrelfish preferentially increase their uptake of Zn during reproductively active periods and make this Zn available to the developing embryo. Dr. Thompson's lab is examining the possibility that differential Zn-transporter expression occurs at critical points in the reproductive cycle, under hormonal control.
Office: SC 345 聽 | 聽 Phone: (859) 572-6390聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: waltersl3@nku.edu
Dr. Walters research investigates the reproductive聽behavior of wild cavity-nesting birds. It seeks to answer broad questions about how birds navigate parental investment decisions to maximize their evolutionary fitness. Like all organisms that provide parental care to their offspring, birds face a tradeoff between investment in their offspring versus investment in their own self-maintenance. This fundamental tradeoff forms the basis for the research questions that she investigates with her students about parental behaviors such as nest site selection, incubation, nestling provisioning, and waste removal. Dr. Walters also uses birds to study conservation-related issues such as factors influencing bird-window collisions and the use of nestling feathers as a bioindicator of environmental methylmercury contamination. Undergraduate students are involved in every aspect of her research, including planning, data collection, analysis, presenting, and publishing.
Office: SC 101B聽聽 | 聽 Phone: (859) 572-1411聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: whitsonma@nku.edu
Dr. Whitson's聽background is in flora of the聽southeastern US, molecular phylogenetic techniques, and taxonomy and聽systematics of the Solanaceae (Nightshade family), particularly the genus Physalis聽(ground cherries). She is the director and curator of 51爆料下载's John W. Thieret聽Herbarium, which is a research and teaching collection of about 30,000 dried聽plant specimens. Currently her work is focused on databasing and digitizing the聽herbarium collections and finding ways to use this data for educational聽purposes, as well as to inform growth and management of our collections. Dr. Whitson is聽also interested in flora of Kentucky and the Southeast, with a particular focus聽on under-collected native species and newly introduced non-natives.
Office: FH 359F 聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-1949聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: williamsol6@nku.edu
Our brains determine almost everything we聽do and our brains get inputs from the outside world at remarkable speed. How do聽our bodies, and especially our immune systems and responses to pathogens,聽change our brains? How do our brains change what we do to survive infection and聽resolve inflammation? How does inflammation affect learning and memory? All of聽these questions drive Dr. Williamson's work in a rodent model of early-life infection. In her lab, they look at rodent learning and memory behavior and how that behavior correlates聽with inflammatory responses both outside and inside the brain.
Office: SC 342聽聽 |聽聽 Phone: (859) 572-1412聽聽 |聽聽 E-mail: xiey2@nku.edu
Dr. Xie is an plant ecologist. She is interested in the spatial and temporal interactions between plants and the environment. Her research focuses on the impacts from global change on plant phenology (i.e., the timing of life cycle events) and associated species interactions and ecosystem processes. Shifts in plant phenology (e.g., flowering time) can have substantial ecological and economic impacts. Understanding how plant phenology responds to environmental variation is critical in assessing the impacts and predicting the future. She works with scientists in multiple disciplines, undergraduate students, and local land managers. She uses integrated approaches including natural history, citizen science network, field observation, and a variety of remote sensing techniques (ranging from time lapse cameras to Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems and satellites) to identify the mechanisms, patterns, forecasts, and consequences.
