Biology Faculty and Staff
Biology faculty members are committed to excellence in teaching and research, engaging students in coursework and creative inquiries by promoting the free and friendly interchange of ideas.
Biology Department Leadership
Jeremy Hyman
Department Chair for the Department of Biology, Professor
The Department Chair of Biology leads the department in the areas of: academic program
oversight, faculty performance evaluations, budget review and maintenance, compliance
with federal and state requirements, and coordination with the College of Arts and
Sciences and its other departments.
Ask Dr. Jeremy Hyman about: general departmental practices, department head signatures
or approvals, visiting the department.
Phone: 828.227.3657
Email: jhyman@wcu.edu
Heather Coan
Associate Department Chair
The Associate Department Chair supports the Department Chair in the areas of: general departmental practices, academic program overview, and class schedule building.
Amanda R. Storm
Undergraduate Program Coordinator
The Undergraduate Program Coordinator oversees the 3 undergraduate biology programs and collaborates with the Graduate Program Coordinator for the 2 Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's (ABM) biology programs.
Katherine Mathews
Graduate Program Coordinator
The Graduate Program Coordinator manages the Biology Graduate Program and collaborates with the Undergraduate Program Coordinator for the 2 Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's biology programs.
Carly Miller
Administrative Support Associate
The Administrative Support Associate serves as the first contact for the Department of Biology's main office and is a great starting point if you're unsure who you need to contact. This role helps most with registration, waitlists, syllabi requests and more.
Faculty Research Specialties
- Use of genomics to clarify gene structure and regulation (Dr. Indi Bose)
- Regenerative medicine and genetics related to diseases of bones and joints (Dr. Heather Coan)
- Drosophila biologist, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Nutritional control of stem cells in fly ovaries (Dr. Subhshri Sahu)
- Regulation fo enzymes (Dr. Amanda Storm)
- Plant-microbe interactions (Dr. Andr茅 C. Vel谩squez Landmann)
- Interactions between arboviruses and host cells (Dr. Megan Vogt)
- Protein dynamics associated with Cystic Fibrosis (Dr. Bob Youker)
- Phenotypic variation and population divergence in animals, primarily birds (Dr. Barbara Ballentine)
- Insect behavior and ecology; Conservation; History of evolutionary biology (Dr. James Costa)
- Floral trait evolution (Dr. Jacob Heiling)
- Communication and social interactions in territorial animals (Dr. Jeremy Hyman)
- Evolutionary morphology and ecology of fishes (Dr. Olivier Larouche)
- Diversity, ecology, and evolution of insects (Dr. Luiz Lima Da Silveira)
- Plant systematics (Dr. Kathy Mathews)
- Diversity of bacteria and archaea in nature (Dr. Se谩n O'Connell)
- Conservation ecology of amphibians (Dr. Joseph Pechmann)
Biology Faculty
Dr. Greg Adkison
Instructor
Data analysis and statistical inference (philosophies and application); nutrition physiology; ecology
Dr. Barbara Ballentine
Associate Professor
Evolution and behavioral ecology
Christopher (Chris) Beyer
Adjunct Instructor
Principles of Biology II labs, cell and molecular biology
Dr. Heather Coan
Professor
Regenerative medicine and the genetics that underlie diseases of bones and joints
Dr. James (Jim) Costa
Professor, Director of the Highlands Biological Station
Evolutionary genetics and behavior of social insects, especially social Lepidoptera and Symphyta
Megan Eckardt
Associate Instructor
Arthropod behavior, kin selection, kin-specific communication and signaling
Sonja (Sunny) Himes
Associate Instructor
Environmental biology, botany, general biology
Dr. Karen Kandl
Associate Instructor
Ecology, human anatomy and physiology
Dr. Olivier Larouche
Assistant Professor
Evolution, aquatic ecology, ichthyology
Dr. Luiz Lima Da Silveira
Associate Professor
Insect diversity, ecology, and evolution
Dr. Joe Bill Mathews
Associate Instructor
Anatomy and physiology, animal physiology
Katherine Gould Mathews
Professor, Director of the 蘑菇短视频Herbarium
Plant systematics
Dr. Se谩n P. O'Connell
Professor
Microbial ecology, diversity of bacteria and archaea in soils and waters, zymurgy
Dr. Joseph (Joe) Pechmann
Professor
Population and community ecology, herpetology, wetlands ecology
Dr. Subhshri Sahu
Assistant Professor
Drosophila biologist, genetics, molecular biology, nutritional control of stem cells in fly ovaries
Dr. Anjana Sharma
Associate Instructor
Plant biology, microbiology, general biology
Dr. Amanda R. Storm
Associate Professor
Molecular biology, protein biochemistry, plant metabolism
Dr. Andr茅 C. Vel谩squez Landmann
Assistant Professor
Cell and molecular biology, plant-microbe interactions
Dr. Megan Vogt
Assistant Professor
Cell and molecular biology, immunology, molecular virology
Robert Youker
Associate Professor
Molecular biology; protein dynamics involved in apical sorting, signal transduction, and cellular quality control pathways.
Library Liaison to Biology
Emeritus Biology Faculty
Richard C. Bruce, Ph.D., Duke University; life histories, ecology, and evolution of plethodontid salamanders
Kefyn M. Catley, Ph.D., Cornell University; arthropod systematics, evolutionary biology, science education, cello,
Frederick A. Coyle, Ph.D., Harvard University; systematics, behavior, and ecology of spiders
Beverly Collins, Ph.D., Rutgers State University of New Jersey New Brunswick; conservation, restoration, and dynamics of plant communities
Laura E. DeWald, Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; ecological genetics, restoration ecology, conservation biology
Fred D. Hinson, Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; microbiology, bacterial cytotechnique, antigen-antibody reactions involving Salmonella species.
James Horton, Ph.D., University of North Carolina; plant anatomy
Roger H. Lumb, Ph.D., University of South Carolina; lipid biochemistry, dynamics of lipids in membranes
Henry R. Mainwaring, Ph.D., University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; mycology, cell biology, DNA content and cell division rates
Thomas H. "Tom" Martin, Ph.D., North Carolina State University at Raleigh; zoology, population and community ecology of aquatic organisms
Allen Moore, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin; aquatic ecology
Malcolm "Mack" Powell, Ph.D., University of Georgia; immunology and infectious diseases
Sabine J. Rundle, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; protein phosphorylation in plant growth and development
James W. Wallace, Jr., Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin; plant biochemistry, physiology, and distribution of secondary metabolites; medicinal plants of the southern Appalachians; biological photography
C. Paul Wright, Ph.D., University of Utah; lethal mutants and developmental genetics of Drosophila melanogaster