UNM Biology Faculty List (Alphabetical)

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L. Larry Barton, Professor
Electron transport in chemolithotrophic and anaerobic bacteria; active transport and metabolism of sulfur, nitrogen, and iron by bacteria.

Ulfar Bergthorsson, Assistant Professor
Molecular evolution; evolution of bacterial and organellar genomes; horizontal gene transfer; evolution of RNA editing, gene duplication and evolution of novel gene function; evolution of mutation rate.

James H. Brown, Distinguished Professor
Community ecology and biogeography, with special projects on granivory in desert ecosystems; biogeography of insular habitats; and structure of dynamics of geographic-scale assemblages of many species.

Eric L. Charnov, Distinguished Professor
Evolutionary ecology.

Brenda J. Claiborne, Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, & Professor
Elucidating how neurons change in the aged brain; discovering the molecular basis of “left brain/right brain” differences during development.

Scott L. Collins, Professor, & Director, Sevilleta LTER
Plant community dynamics; gradient models and structure; the role of disturbance in communitie; fire ecology; patch dynamics; landscape ecology; grassland ecology; analysis of species distribution and abundance.

Joseph A. Cook, Professor, & Curator, Division of Mammals, Museum of Southwestern Biology
biotic conservation, historical biogeography, molecular & morphological evolution, systematics, speciation, natural history of subterranean mammals, island biology.

Lee Couch, Lecturer II
Parasitology: taxonomy and systematics of coccidian parasites of wild animals; host-parasite interactions. Coordinator of Microbiology facility and labs and lecturer in Microbiology.

Cara Lea Council-Garcia, Lecturer II
Coordinating and designing of undergraduate biology major labs, biology labs for health-related majors, and biology labs for non-majors biology courses.

Richard M. Cripps, Associate Professor, & Associate Chair
Using genetics and molecular biology to understand muscle development in Drosophila: regulation of muscle-specific gene transcription; identification and characterization of new genes required for heart and muscle development; cell biology of developing muscle fibers.

Charles Cunningham, Associate Professor
Invertebrate Immunology; Use of Transcriptomics and Genomics

Clifford N. Dahm, Professor
Aquatic ecology; stream/groundwater interactions; microbial ecology; nutrient cycling; microbial and chemical processes in volcanic environments; dissolved organic carbon in streams; stream ecosystems. Heads the Hydrogeoecology Research Group.

Paul Farnsworth, Lecturer III
Industrial microbiology with expertise in fermentation science.

Christina O. Fridrick, Lecturer II
The genetics of muscle development in Drosophila.

David T. Hanson, Associate Professor
Evolution of photosynthetic CO₂ concentrating mechanisms and the role of pyrenoids; evolution of the photosynthetic enzyme Rubisco and of isoprene synthase; physiological ecology of Sphagnum moss and general bryophyte biology; molecular and whole plant physiology.

Bruce V. Hofkin, Lecturer III
Parasitology; molecular screening of wildlife pathogens; vector control.

Kelly A. Howe, Lecturer III
The genetics of sexual development in Neurospora crassa; regulation of gene expression by small RNAs; peroxisome assembly and function.

Vaishali Katju, Assistant Professor
Comparative evolutionary genomics; deleterious and compensatory mutations; evolution of eukaryotic genomes; evolution of reproductive incompatibility; experimental evolution; gene duplication and the origin of novel genes.

Astrid Kodric-Brown, Professor
Ecological behavior; adaptive significance of social behavior; tests of sexual selection models; selection of epigamic characteristics in fishes; energetic cost of territorial defense in optimal and marginal habitats; coevolution of pollinators and flowers.

Marcy Litvak, Assistant Professor
Ecosystem physiology and ecology, plant physiological ecology; emphasis on investigating the effects of climate variability, disturbance and/or land use on the exchange of carbon, water and energy between ecosystems and the atmosphere.

Eric S. (Sam) Loker, Chair, Department of Biology; Regents' Professor;
Director, NIH COBRE Center for Evolutionary & Theoretical Immunology
Immunobiology of host–parasite interactions with emphasis on schistosomes and other snail-transmitted parasites; immune systems of invertebrates; comparative immunology; evolution of schistosomes.

Timothy K. Lowrey, Professor, & Curator, UNM Herbarium, Museum of Southwestern Biology
Plant systematics; flowering plants of the tropics; hybridization in plants; plant breeding systems and reproductive biology.

Diane L. Marshall, Professor, & Regents' Lecturer
Plant population biology; plant reproductive ecology and genetics; the evolution and ecological significance of patterns of plasticity in plants; plant resource allocation.

Kelly B. Miller, Assistant Professor, & Curator, Division of Arthropods, Museum of Southwestern Biology
Insect systematics and evolution; insect morphology and natural history; insect phylogenetics using morphological and molecular data; evolution of sexual conflict in arthropods in a phylogenetic framework; aquatic insect taxonomy.

Robert D. Miller, Professor
Comparative immunology; evolution of vertebrate antigen receptor genes; evolution of maternal/fetal interactions and immunity.

Bruce T. Milne, Professor
Ecology; landscape ecology; multivariate statistics and fractal geometry.

Donald O. Natvig, Professor
Evolutionary molecular biology and comparative biochemistry; fungal genetics; biochemical adaptations accompanying life in the presence of oxygen.

Mary Anne Nelson, Professor
Sexual development in Neurospora crassa; the control of gene expression during development; fungal genomics.

William T. Pockman, Associate Professor
Whole plant physiological ecology of desert vegetation; ecological implications of xylem cavitation and hydraulic conductance; evolution of drought tolerance characteristics; ecophysiological perspectives on plant competition and invasion; plant and community response to climate change.

Steven Poe, Associate Professor
Theory and practice of phylogenetic systematics; Anolis lizard biology; herpetology, especially lizards and crocodilians; evolution of development; philosophy of biology.

David J. Schmidly, UNM President and Professor
Natural history of mammals of the Southwest, especially Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico; mammalian systematics, particularly those of the genus Peromyscus; and conservation of habitats.

Marieken Shaner, Lecturer II
Evolutionary ecology, plant reproductive biology, and a persistent fascination with microbes.

Robert L. Sinsabaugh, Professor
Ecosystem ecology, microbiology, nutrient cycling.

Felisa A. Smith, Associate Professor
Paleoecological and evolutionary research; effects of current global and past climatic change on mammals.

Howard L. Snell, Professor, & Curator, Division of Amphibians & Reptiles, The Museum of Southwestern Biology
Conservation biology of the Galápagos islands, evolutionary ecology, and herpetology.

Stephen A. Stricker, Professor, Associate Chair, & Director of Electron Microscopy
Cell and developmental biology; analyses of signal transduction pathways during egg maturation and fertilization.

James Swan, Lecturer II
Teaches human anatomy and physiology and prosection. Coordinator of anatomy and physiology labs.

Cristina Takacs-Vesbach, Assistant Professor
Molecular microbial ecology, especially microbial diversity and productivity in extreme environments.

Randy Thornhill, Distinguished Professor
Evolution and ecology of social interactions, especially sexual interactions and sexual selection.

Eric C. Toolson, Professor
Physiological ecology; evolution of physiological and biochemical adaptations; thermobiology and water relations of insects and arachnids; ecological genetics.

Thomas F. Turner, Associate Professor; Director, & Curator, Division of Fishes, The Museum of Southwestern Biology
Evolutionary ecology of fishes, especially the role of early life history variation in population persistance and dispersal biology; population genetics: ecological and biogeographic determinants of population structure in fishes; molecular systematics of fishes.

Andreas Wagner, Associate Professor
Evolution of gene networks; evolution of developmental pathways; redundant gene functions and their evolution; architecture of biochemical networks; gene network reconstruction; evolution of modularity and robustness in metabolic networks, developmental pathways, and RNA; whole genome analysis of transcriptional regulatory regions.

Robert B. Waide, Professor
Long-term population dynamics of tropical organisms; trophic dynamics in tropical ecosystems; the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function; the effect of changes in land use and land cover on regional climate; the relationship among abiotic gradients, disturbance, and ecosystem structure and function; the use of remotely-sensed data to estimate biodiversity.

Margaret Werner-Washburne, Professor
Regulation of the quiescent state and exit from quiescence; fungal genomics; genome-level analysis of gene expression, compuational biology.

Helen Wearing, Assistant Professor
Theoretical biology and disease ecology; using mathematical and statistical approaches to understand the biological processes that shape population and community dynamics, with an emphasis on host-parasite interactions.

Christopher C. Witt, Assistant Professor; Curator, Division of Birds, Museum of Southwestern Biology
Avian systematics and molecular evolution; evolutionary inference using phylogenetic comparative methods; biogeography of the Neotropics; hummingbird evolution and comparative physiology; high-altitude adaptation; integrative ornithology.

Blair O. Wolf, Associate Professor
Physiological ecology, ecology of desert animals, plant�animal interactions, animal energetics and water balance. Avian biology, particularly reproductive biology and habitat selection.