Dr. Chris Balakrishnan Coauthors Paper Published in Science
The November 2015 issue of Science includes a research article coauthored by Dr. Chris Balakrishnan. The article investigates recombination hotspots in species lacking the PRDM9 gene....
ECU Biology Archives
Paper Coauthored by ECU Biology’s Sue McRae Gets Extensive Press Coverage, Including Washington Post
A paper in Nature Genetics coauthored by Biology's Dr. Sue McRae (published online 16 November 2015) detailing the role of a supergene in determining highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff has generated significant interest in the popular press, including the Washington Post....
Biology Graduate Students Participate in the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition
Four graduate students, MS students Gina Bledsoe (Dr. Peralta), Tori Goerig (Dr. Ardon), Tom Miller (Dr. Issa) and PhD student Suelen Tuillo (Dr. Chalcraft), presented their research at the 2015 ECU 3 MT Thesis completion. Tom and Suelen were selected as finalists in the competition and Tom won the People's Choice Award, one of the two top prizes at the 3MT competition....
Jolls Lab Endangered Plant Research Highlighted
Jolls lab research on the effect of invasive plants and weevils on the endangered Pitcher's Thistle receives coverage in "Great Lakes Echo."...
ECU Biology Advancement Council tours Tar River with Dean Bill Downs and Distinguished Prof. Roger Rulifson
ECU Biology Advancement Council tours Tar River with Dean Bill Downs and Distinguished Prof. Roger Rulifson, after record year of fundraising....
Graduate students share research on social media
Biology students Molly Albecker, Daniel Newhouse and numerous others are among a new generation of researchers - graduate students and early career professors - who are embracing social media, blogs...
Biology Homecoming Nerd Nite Oct. 16 with Dr.’s Ariane Peralta, Seth Barribeau
Alums and friends of Biology join us for drinks, snacks, Oct. 16, 5-7pm in Howell N102 with Ariane Peralta: If you build it, will 'they' come?: Restoring ecosystems, many microbes...
New Paper by Incoming PhD Student on Mosquitofish Genital Evolution Gets Extensive Online Coverage
Chris Anderson, an incoming Ph.D. student joining Dr. Jeff McKinnon's lab, has received extensive online coverage for a new paper published in Evolution (Early View, August 26 2015) on the origins of female genital diversity....
Distinguished Professor Roger Rulifson and CRM student Chuck Bangley Quoted Widely on Shark Attack Spike
The recent spike in shark attacks along the coast of North Carolina has resulted in the media and public looking to ECU shark biologists Dr. Roger Rulifson and CRM student Chuck Bangley for answers. They have been quoted in articles published from the local Daily Reflector to AsiaOne in Singapore!...
Balakrishnan Lab Funding Success Continues
Dr. Chris Balakrishnan and his lab continue to be successful in securing research funding, recently receiving $390,000 from the National Science Foundation to study brain development in the African pin-tailed...
Grad Student Photo of Frog Named after Professor on Journal Cover
The cover of the current issue of the Journal of Evolutionary Biology features an image of Ranitomeya summersi,(named after Dr. Kyle Summers) taken by his graduate student, Adam Stuckert. The image accompanies an article reviewing the relationship between honest signaling theory and warning coloration....
2015 ECU Sigma Xi Chapter Student Helms Award
Faten Taki, an IDPBS Ph.D. candidate, is the recipient of the 2015 ECU Sigma Xi Chapter Student Helms Award. She was honored for her work showing the sensitivity of the post-embryonic stage to drugs of abuse like nicotine and its impact on subsequent generations....
Dr John Stiller elected as Chair of the Faculty
Dr. John Stiller was elected as Chair of the Faculty for the 2015/2016 academic year
Dr. Marcelo Ardon is a Recipient of the Inaugural Early Career Award
Dr. Marcelo Ardon-Sayao was one of two assistant professors at East Carolina University to receive the inaugural Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Early Career Award, announced Friday, May 15, at a special reception....
Dr. Mary Farwell honored as an ECU Woman of Distinction
Dr. Mary Farwell was honored on April 13 as one of ten inspiring ECU women in a ceremony that celebrated the impacts that women have on ECU and the world.
Dr. Jinling Huang named a recipient of the ECU Five-Year Research Achievement Award
Congratulations to Dr. Jinling Huang, who has been named one of the recipients of the ECU Five-Year Achievement Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity. He will be honored at a lecture and reception at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 29, at the ECU East Carolina Heart Institute Auditorium....
Dr. Carol Goodwillie wins University-wide Award for Teaching Excellence
The Board of Governors of the 17-campus University North Carolina have selected Dr. Carol Goodwill as one of the University's most outstanding faculty to receive its 2015 Awards for Excellence...
Dr. Carol Goodwillie Incorporates Service Learning Into Biology Class
Dr. Carol Goodwillie received funds from the faculty senate’s Teaching Grants Committee – making the first service learning science course at ECU possible. Thirty of Goodwillie’s students helped remove invasive...
Dr. Ariane Peralta Publishes Feature Article
Dr. Ariane Peralta and three co-authors published an article in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, "A social-ecological framework for 'micromanaging' microbial services", that was featured on the cover of the November 2014 issue....
Congratulations to the biology graduate students for their fine efforts as participants in the 3-Minute thesis competition held October 22, 2014 in Mendenhall
Molly Albecker (Ph D student,CRM), Bevin Blake (MS Biology student), Payal Chokshi (MS Biology & MBA student), Ian Davison (MS Biology student), Dorothy Dobbins—Finalist (Molecular Biology/Biotechnology student), Matt Edwards (MS Biology student), Scott Jones (PhD student, IDPBS), Morgan Kain--Winner, catchiest title (MS Biology student), Lauren McCarthy—Finalist (PhD student, IDPBS), Jillian Osborne (MS Biology student), Adam Stuckert (PhD student, IDPBS), Lenny Yong (PhD student, IDPBS)...
ECU to Acquire Aquatic Robot for Coastal and Marine Research
Four researchers in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology at East Carolina University have secured a Major Research Instrumentation grant from the National Science Foundation....
Undergraduate Biochemistry Student Publishes Article in Science
An undergraduate student of Dr. Yiping Qi is the first author of a Perspective article in Science magazine about the possible mechanism of ALS disease. Joseph W. Paul III completed a prestigious summer internship in Stanford University, during which he helped his internship advisor review two original manuscripts on the topic, which resulted in the published article....
Dr. Krista McCoy Presents at TEDMED at ECU.
Dr. Krista McCoy presented a talk about how environmental chemical exposure leads to endocrine disruption and childhood disease at the recent TEDMED live talk on September 12, 2014. Dr. McCoy...
Doctoral Student, Professor, Published in Nature Communications
A paper on mimicry and speciation in the Peruvian poison frog, Ranitomeya imitator, was published in Nature Communications in August 2014. The paper was authored by Evan Twomey and Dr....
Biology Faculty Member Named TCHAS Distinguished Professor
Dr. Roger Rulifson, professor in the Department of Biology and senior scientist with the ECU Institute for Coastal Science and Policy, was named a 2014 Thomas Harriot College of Arts...
ECU see-through frog research highlighted in National Geographic
Research from the ECU Department of Biology on Peruvian glassfrogs was highlighted in National Geographic. Graduate student Evan Twomey, quoted in the piece, has teamed with former grad student Jesse Delia in the research. According to the article, the research has identified four new species of the see-through frogs, some with green bones. The species is known for gaudy coloring including yellow circles around the eyes....
Graduate Student Wins Award at National Conference
Lauren McCarthy, a Ph.D. student in Dr. Dave Chalcraft's lab, was selected as the winner of the Ecological Society of America Aquatic Ecology Section Best Student Talk Award at the...
Article by Chris Balakrishnan and others honored by editors and readers of PeerJ
A recent article by Dr. Chris Balakrishnan and collaborators published in PeerJ was honored as a top pick for 2014 (20 articles selected from 471 published), and a top animal behavior paper for November 2014....
Congratulations to Our Faculty
Jeff McKinnon and Chris Balakrishnan for their recent NIH grant Dave Chalcraft and Heather Vance-Chalcraft for a Centennial Award for Service. Anne Bunnell for a Robert L. Jones Award for...
Ten of the best Nerd Nite presentations of all time from across the country
And Chris Balakrishnan, Founder/Godfather of Nerd Nite, and Assistant Professor of Evolutionary Biology. Nerd Nite has teamed up with the Smithsonian's second annual The Future Is Here Festival May 16-18, 2014 in Washington DC so you can learn about the merging of science and science fiction from the most prestigious minds in the world while having fun!...
Biology Professor Awarded Grant to Purchase Ion Proton DNA Sequencer for ECU
GREENVILLE, N.C. (April 10, 2014) — Dr. Edmund Stellwag, director of the East Carolina University Genomics Core Facility and Biotechnology Education Program and associate professor of biology, has received a North Carolina Biotechnology Center grant for the purchase of an Ion Proton DNA sequencer that will benefit collaborators from both East and West campuses....
Teaching Associate Professor Susan McRae Wins Scholar Teacher Award
Graduate Students bring in Multiple Grants
Molly Albecker (Dr. M. McCoy) was the recipient of two awards in support of her study of the long-term ecological consequences of sea level rise and saltwater intrusion into coastal...
Associate Professor (and ICSP joint appointee) Dr. Dave Kimmel wins prestigious ECU 5-year Research Award for 2013-14.
Students Publish Toxicology Articles
Two students studying in the Biochemical Toxicology lab of Dr. Xiaoping Pan were the first authors of two recently published papers featured by the Editor-in-Chief of the professional journal Archives...
ECU Biology Students win Awards at Sigma Xi Meeting
Two graduate students (Faten Taki and Dorothy Dobbins) and two undergraduate students (Joseph Polli and Erin Connolly) won presentation awards at the November 8-9 Sigma XI Student Research Conference, held...
Faculty member (and Chair) publishes invited commentary in Nature
Jeff McKinnon, Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology, has published an invited commentary in leading journal Nature on the "rare male effect" in the guppy. Maria Servedio, Associate...
David Chalcraft’s article was selected as one of the 100 most influential papers published by the British Ecological Society
Functional diversity within a morphologically conservative genus of predators: implications for functional equivalence and redundancy in ecological communities. Functional Ecology 2007, 21, 793–804
Grand Opening of Problem Based Learning Classroom, Howell Science Complex N102
“Genomic Insights into Poison Frog Behavior and Diversity” by Dr. Lauren O’Connell
THCAS Advancement Council Distinguished Professorship in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the Department of Biology Present "Genomic Insights into Poison Frog Behavior and Diversity" Dr. Lauren O'Connell FAS Center for System Biology at Harvard University at 4 pm, Oct 24, 2013 in room C309 of the Science and Technology Building...
Dr. Enrique Reyes was elected as Secretary for the 2013-2015 Governing Board of the Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation
As new board member Dr. Reyes is tasked with overseeing the implementation CERF's mission and strategic plan for the duration of their term. The CERF is a multidisciplinary organization of...
Burroughs Welcome Lecture
Associate Chief of Pathology for Research at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School Dr. J. Keith Joung will Present, "Editing Genes to Understand and Treat Disease." October 17, 12-1pm @ C307 Science and Technology Building Additional information can be found at Burroughs Wellcome Lecture ...
ECU Ecologist’s Wetlands Research Featured in Major Science Publication Dr. Marcelo Ardon-Sayao
GREENVILLE, N.C. (June 19, 2013) — In recent weeks, research conducted by an East Carolina University professor has appeared in two major science publications. Dr. Marcelo Ardón-Sayao, assistant professor of...
Biodiversity Scholarship Winner Announced
ECU’s Center for Biodiversity is delighted to announce the winner of our first annual Biodiversity Scholarship competition for Pitt County high school students conducting research projects on local plant and animal biodiversity. Ms. Alina Suedbeck won the $1000 scholarship for her research entitled "Lepidoptera Caterpillar Spiracle Variation". Participating students were matched with an ECU mentor to assist them in project planning. Completed projects were presented at ECU’s annual Earth Day Expo on April 18th....
Earth Day Expo at ECU to feature interactive events, lecture on April 18
Carol Goodwillie Receives 2013 Scholar-Teacher Award (PDF)
Associate Dean and Biology Professor Cindy Putnam-Evans Named ECU Women of Distinction
UNC Board of Governors Announces University-Wide Awards for Teaching Excellence
Lifetime and Five-Year Achievement Awards for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity – and – Scholarship of Engagement Award
Dear ECU Community – It is my pleasure and honor to announce the recipients of the ECU Lifetime and Five-Year Achievement Awards for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity and...
ECU Biology Professor Researching Risk Factors Associated with Fourth Leading Cause of Death in U.S.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 26, 2013) — Every 40 seconds someone in the United States suffers a stroke, and nearly 40 percent of those survivors will suffer a recurrent stroke within...
UNC Biology Chairpersons Gather at ECU to Discuss Educational Challenges
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UNC Biology Chairpersons Gather at ECU to Discuss Educational Challenges GREENVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 30, 2013) — Nearly a dozen biology department chairpersons from across the UNC System...
East-West Collaboration Program 2012
ECU Community – Happy New Year! Please recall that ECU conducted an internal seed grant competition, the East-West Collaboration Program, during fall semester 2012. The Division of Research and Graduate...
Biology PhD Alum featured on BBC News for Millipede study
Visit to Central Environmental Laboratory by Environmental Health and Safety student mock inspectors, and instructor Ms. Kelly Shook, finds flawless compliance
Bio Living-Learning Community travels to Washington, NC
On Aug. 17, 2012, the 30 freshmen in the newly formed BioLL traveled to Washington, NC by bus with Drs. Mary Farwell, Enrique Reyes and Lee Sutton. The group was...
ECU Celebrates Inauguration of Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Initiative
John Stiller Elected President of Phycological (Algae) Society of America
Jennifer Cudney-Burch (Rulifson lab) wins NOAA/Jones Award
Six North Carolina graduate students are among the winners of the 2012 Walter B. Jones Sr. Awards, issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The awards for Excellence in...
McRae Lab Research in the News
GREENVILLE, N.C. (June 21, 2012) — Researchers are hoping to get a rare peek this summer at an elusive bird hiding in the marshes of Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge....
Biology graduate students present at NC Capitol building
Biology Homecoming Tailgate
DATE: Saturday, October 13, 2012 START TIME: 1:00 pm (Game at 4:30 pm) WE PROVIDE: Bratwurst, Veggie Burgers, & Drinks YOU PROVIDE: Good Cheer and antacids! LOCATION: Belk Building parking...
Biology graduate students Scott Jones, Lauren McCarthy, Sam Mears, Evan Twomey and Lenny Yong awarded competitive research grants
Students Scott Jones (Chalcraft Lab), Lauren McCarthy (Chalcraft Lab), Sam Mears (McKinnon Lab), Evan Twomey (Summers lab) and Lenny Yong (McKinnon lab) PhD candidate Ewan Twomey was recently awarded an...
Biology faculty members Christensen, Farwell, Hager, McKinnon and West honored at ECU awards day.
Christensen, Farwell, Hager, McKinnon and West Biology award nominees honored at the Founders Day University Awards Celebration and an associated celebration of patent holders were: Anthony Capehart (Board of Governors...
Drew Cathey of the Kimmel lab won best oral presentation at the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society meeting.
Andrew M. Cathey was awarded Best Student Oral Presentation at the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society meeting in Beaufort, NC during 11-13 April, 2012. Drew received the award for his paper...
Lindsay D. Leverett has received the prestigious ASB Student Research Award
Lindsay D. Leverett has received the prestigious ASB Student Research Award ($1000), at the 73rd annual meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Athens, GA, given for an especially meritorious...
The BioLL-Bio Living-Learning Community-New in 2012!
Announcing Biology Living Learning Community (BioLL) and BioExcellence Scholarship program for incoming intended Biology and Biochemistry majors. Scholarship recipients will be chosen from the BioLL application pool.
Congratulations to Jon Davenport
Congratulations to Jon Davenport who has been selected as this year's first-place winner of the ECU 2nd Annual Dissertation Award. He was recognized at the Research Week Recognition Luncheon on...
Grant to benefit ECU biology, biochemistry majors
GREENVILLE (02/21/2012) - A national grant totaling more than $500,000 will fund scholarships for 24 high achieving, financially needy students to study biochemistry and science at East Carolina University. The...
ECU biology professor selected as Sloan Research Fellow
GREENVILLE (02/17/2012) - An East Carolina University faculty member was honored this week with a Sloan Research Fellowship and $50,000 to further his research in ocean sciences. (http://www.sloan.org/fellowships/page/21) Dr. Matt...
Biodiversity: Species choked and blended
A short review publication in Nature about new research on speciation in fish by a research group in Switzerland. ...
ECU Biology Professor, Matt Schrenk, Ph.D., awarded $1.5 Million Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant
GREENVILLE, N.C. (Dec. 16, 2011) — Dr. Matthew O. Schrenk, assistant professor of biology at East Carolina University, received notification on Tuesday, Dec. 13, that he has been awarded a...
Dr. Robert Christian receives 2011 Coastal and Estuarine Research Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award
Dr. Robert Christian, Thomas Harriot College Distinguished Professor, and ECU Board of Governor's Distinguished Research Professor, was awarded the 2011 Coastal and Estuarine Research Foundation's (CERF) Distinguished Service Award at...
Kyle Summers Receives Second Distinguished Professorship
Fox News video featuring Anthony Overton, PhD discussing Historic Beaufort, NC
Biology Undergraduate Honors student Kim Wade is this year’s recipient of the Pitt County Wildlife Club Scholarship.
Carol Brackett of ECU won a Paul A. Stewart Award this year with the Wilson Ornithological Society
ECU Scholar and MS in Biology candidate, Lindsay Leverett awarded Shinn Grant
Lindsay Leverett, an ECU Scholar and MS Candidate in Biology has been awarded a Shinn Grant from the North Carolina Native Plant Society. This grant supports basic and applied work on native plants. The grant will be used to help support Lindsay's research on "Seed ecology of the native species Packera tomentosa (Asteraceae)"....
Article in prestigious science magazine Nature highlights work of ECU researchers on Gulf oil spill
Several Biology faculty members and students are to be congratulated for campus-wide awards given out during ECU Research and Creative Achievement Week
NC Biodiversity Center Hosts an exciting Earth Day Event April 15th and 16th, featuring internationally renowned author, Richard Louv.
Please join us for an Earth Day presentation. Richard Louv, author of "LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder" will give a presentation at 7pm on...
Save the date: Ceremony for dedication of Brinson-Christian Ecology Laboratory planned for March 18.
Brinson-Christian Room-Naming: March 18, 2011 3:00-4:00pm Ceremony and Speeches Sci-Tech Room 207 3:00-3:05pm: Welcome from Jeff McKinnon 3:05-3:15pm: Memories of Prof. Brinson from SWS colleague, Pat Megonigal 3:15-3:25pm: Memories of...
Drs. Anthony Overton, Ed Stellwag, Baohong Zhang and Xiaoping Pan’s research on the effects of the gulf oil spill was featured on PBS NewsHour.
Raymond O’Connor Seminar Series
Dr. Joshua Lawler, assistant professor at the University of Washington, will present a free, public presentation "Projected Climate Impacts on the Fauna of the Western Hemisphere," at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 11, in Bate 1031 at East Carolina University....
Dr. Alex Georgakilas to be awarded the prestigious Terashima award, from the Japan Radiation Research Society.
Dr. Alex Georgakilas, associate professor in the Department of Biology, will receive the prestigious Terashima award from the Japan Radiation Research Society at the 53rd annual conference in Kyoto. He...
ECU Biology Department Hosts Symposium in Honor of Retiring Distinguished Professors
Two Distinguished Professors Retiring from ECU Biology Department GREENVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 9, 2010) — The East Carolina University Department of Biology this fall will see two of its longtime professors...
ECU professors, including Dr. Dave Kimmel, research effects of BP oil spill in Gulf of Mexico and beyond.
PIRATES camp students have the opportunity to experience real world science applications.
The 2010 American Arachnological Society annual meeting will be co-hosted by Harriot College’s Department of Biology and the North Carolina Center for Biodiversity Friday, June 11, through Tuesday, June 15
Bob Christian received a Summer Visiting Scientist Award at the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory (BMFL), University of South Carolina.
Bob Christian received a Summer Visiting Scientist Award at the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory (BMFL), University of South Carolina. He will visit the laboratory 3 times this year, including a...
Dr. Kyle Summers research involving monogamy in amphibians featured in Science magazine.
Will Stolzenburg, formerly of the Nature Conservancy and author of “Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predator is scheduled to speak on Earth Day, April 22, in the Science and Technology building C207 at 7 PM.
Earth Day Speaker Will Stolzenburg, author of "Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predator" is scheduled to speak on Earth Day,...
Biology Faculty and Advancement Council Members Help Local Students Present at American Association for the Advancement of Science Meetings