The graduate programs in Biology are research-based and provide an opportunity for instruction and mentorship from world-class faculty studying both basic and applied problems in biology. This strong, shared culture of mentorship provides the unique opportunity for close collaboration and for high-quality, individually directed mentoring by advisors and advisory committees. The programs include a number of formal and informal activities designed to promote a strong sense of community among all students on campus. Faculty advisors for the programs are from the Departments of Integrative Biology, Anthropology, Biochemistry, Biostatistics, Cell and Developmental Biology, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Craniofacial Biology, Geography, Mathematics, Pharmacology, Physics, Physiology, and Psychology; additional faculty advisors are affiliated with Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Denver Botanic Gardens.
I am interested in how the evolution of ornaments conflicts with locomotor performance and fitness using stalk-eyed flies as a model system. To test for flight biomechanical costs associated with the elongated eye stalks, I film escape performance of flies in simulated predator attacks using high-speed videography.
Research interest: My research focuses on developing computational methods to enhance the quality of NMR data and using NMR techniques to investigate how proteins interact with RNA.
Interests: Fear extinction, stress resilience, exercise, sex differences and estrous cycle effects. My research focuses specifically on the estrous cycle modulation of fear extinction learning and memory.
Ph.D. • 2021 • Cushing Lab, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Department of Integrative Biology
I am currently studying evolutionary relationships between camel spiders (solifuges) using phylogenomics and revising taxonomic characters used to name camel spider species. I also am interested in camel spider behavior, specifically how they locate their prey and their use of daytime retreats.
My research in behavioral neuroscience examines sex differences in stress resistance factors like exercise. Currently, I am investigating the neural circuits that mediate exercise-induced stress resistance in male and female rodents.
Interests: I am interested in self-organization and its intersection in social insects (ants) and neuroscience. Both are centerless systems which nonetheless exhibit flexible, directed behavior which arises from their constitutive parts. My research centers on recruitment and warfare in the pavement ant Tetramorium immigrans , a widespread tramp species across Europe and North America.
Research Interest: I am interested in evolutionary ecology, animal behavior, and wildlife conservation through the lens of global change. I am driven to explore how wildfire and extreme events affect wildlife populations. Currently, I am researching how habitats burned by wildfire impact the sexually selected traits of dragonflies.
Audrey Spencer is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate researching the systematics and biogeography of Physocarpus (ninebark), helping elucidate the origins of the flora of the Southern Rockies. She uses genomic tools to tell the biogeographic story of plants with disjunct distributions.
Ph.D. • 2022 • Dr. John Fisk, CU Denver Department of Chemistry
Department of Integrative Biology
Research Interests: I am interested in work to expand the genetic code via incorporation of noncanonical amino acids as well as working on developing a computational model of phage infection in filamentous bacteria for the purposes of modeling phage display and delving deeper into how to reverse bacterial "curing" during a phage infection. To learn more about our research, please visit our lab's website.
Interests: My research interest is in nanomedicine, that is, using nano-sized materials in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. I focus on the fabrication of chemiluminescent and fluorescent nanoparticles for use in early detection and image-guided surgery of cancer for clinical use. I also work on the development of therapeutic contact lenses coated with metal chelators for the treatment of corneal diseases.
M.S. Program • 2022 • Rebecca Hufft, Denver Botanic Gardens
Department of Integrative Biology
Interests: I am interested in using Terrestrial Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) data collected in burn scars on public lands to determine if current land management decisions are efficient in restoration efforts post- wildfire.
Gabrielle’s research interests include urban ecology and native wildflowers of Colorado. She is especially interested in the resiliency of native plants in the face of climate change and urbanization.
Research interests include understanding how young adults learn biological concepts using cooperative and phenomena-based approaches and how to best support teacher implementing those strategies.
M.S. Program • 2024 • Ackerfield Lab • Denver Botanic Gardens
Department of Integrative Biology
Ash Kerber is a first year Master’s student exploring the evolutionary history of rare alpine plants, specifically in the genus Polemonium, using floral scent and genetics. She plans to demonstrate how diverse alpine angiosperm adaptions can be, especially those that humans cannot see. Denver Botanic Gardens Graduate Students
M.S. Program • 2023 • Greene/Wilson Lab • Denver Botanic Gardens
Department of Integrative Biology
I'm interested in plant-fungal relationships. My thesis project is documenting the diversity of fungi associated with two plants that utilize carbon sourced from fungi.
Research Interests: Urban and Evolutionary Ecology, specifically how urban ecological and evolutionary processes can be better understood and used to inform environmentally conscious city and land-use management. My thesis work will involve surveys of water quality within City of Denver, and more specifically along the Highline Canal, using aquatic invertebrate and plant diversity as quality indicators.
M.S. Program • Cushing Lab, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Department of Integrative Biology
Interests: Center around camel spider (Solifuges) systematics. My focus is in analyzing currently used characters and devising morphometrics that may shed light on a complex group of camel spiders
Joseph has graduated into the department's PhD Program. Interests: designing a novel way to extract and isolate nascent-RNA in hopes to determine the thermal sensitivity of transcription.
Dr. Andrew Andrade - Thesis Title: Competing Environmental Influences on Early Understory Successional Development Following Severe Fire: Potential Implications for a Warming Climate
Dr. Margaret Tanner - Thesis Title: Clarifying Exercise-Induced Stress Resilience
Dr. Roubina Tatavosian - Thesis Title: Pleiotropic Function of the Master Regulators, of Gene Expression, the Polycomb Group (PCG) Complexes and the P53 Proteins, During Early Development
Benjamin Lagasse - Thesis Title: Population Connectivity and Migratory Dynamics of the Dunlin (Calidris alpina) along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
