We have shown, in
rats performing in a radial maze, that if visual input is confined to a single
cerebral hemisphere, then hippocampal lesions on that side perturb the
formation of spatial memories based on that input. Future studies will
extend these findings to other senses and behaviors, which will involve maze
performance based on tactile information and operant conditioning paradigms
(lever press) using visual cues. All such studies involve animal behavior,
experimental brain surgery, neuroanatomy, and depending on the exact
experiments, neuropharmacology and neurotransmitter receptor biochemistry.
My research is
in the area of environmental and comparative physiology. This can be defined as
the comparing and contrasting of physiological mechanisms, processes, or
responses of different species of organisms under differing environmental
conditions. More specifically I am interested in the physiological responses of
animals, especially fishes, to environmental stressors. For more information,
visit my personal website,
or the RBRI website.
I study the
effects of environmental pollutants and cancer treatment drugs in cells.
Specifically, I’m interested in interactions between responses to the hormone
estrogen, drugs used on breast cancer, and PCBs, dioxins, and cigarette smoke
in the environment.
In my research,
I examine how whole ecosystems function, especially the capacity for
terrestrial (watersheds) and aquatic (streams, ponds, and wetlands) ecosystems
to retain nutrients added to them. I am especially interested in human
impacts on aquatic ecosystems, such as effects of acid rain and waste water
treatment plant effluent on streams and rivers. These types of research
involve collecting and analyzing water samples from streams, ponds, lakes, or
wetlands. For more information, visit the RBRI website.
I am interested
in anything related to microbiology and that is why I have several research
projects going on in my lab. All these projects employ similar molecular
techniques, including bacterial genomic DNA preparation, PCR amplification,
gene cloning, bacterial transformation, restriction fragment length
polymorphism, and DNA sequence analysis.
My research
interests range widely within the disciplines of ecology and conservation biology,
from the effects of selective pressures on skull morphology to the best methods
of preserving biodiversity in the southeastern piedmont. I am
particularly interested in evolutionary processes and morphological adaptation
as well as the natural history of particular taxonomic groups, especially
mammals and reptiles.
My recent
research has focused on plants that “hyperaccumulate” heavy metals, i.e.
concentrate elements such as zinc or nickel to exceptionally high
concentrations in leaf tissues. This phenomenon is relatively rare; only
about 425 species of plants in the world are known to do it. They are of
interest in part because of their potential use for clean-up of polluted soils.
The particular topics that my students and I have studied include (1) the
extent to which hyperaccumulation is a genetically variable character within
species, (2) the adaptive significance of hyperaccumulation, particularly the
possibility that it functions as a defense against herbivores, and (3) the
extent to which hyperaccumulator plants may facilitate the transfer of metals
into food chains. Read one of our recently published papers about the
genetics of hyperaccumulation.
In essence, my
research relates to the fields of genetics, molecular evolution, phylogenetics,
and bioinformatics; specifically intron evolution, evolution of protein
families, and comparative genomics. For more information, visit my personal website.
I study the
moths and butterflies of the Southeast, at a number of levels. (1) I am
collecting and cataloguing moth species of
My main role in
working with students now is as
The overall goal
of my research is to examine the role that serine proteases play in the
development of motor neurons and their target cells.
I am interested
in describing how complex interactions among biotic and abiotic factors
influence the number of species that coexist in a particular natural
community. I use insect communities as model systems to test these
factors because these communities lend themselves to replicated, manipulated
experiments.
.