The graduate program in Integrative Biology at the University of Colorado, Denver is currently recruiting PhD and Masters students for Fall, 2019. The program takes a multidisciplinary training approach, with departmental strengths in behavioral, spatial, and microbial ecology, evolutionary and comparative genomics, and developmental biology. The following labs are actively recruiting in evolutionary and ecological disciplines, though opportunities may be available across the department.
Brian Buma - The Buma lab is interested in ecosystem change from local to global scales. We study how disturbances and climate change (think wildfire, wind, and snow loss) impacts ecosystem resilience, composition, functioning, and distributions. Current work runs from the boreal forest of northern Alaska through the high mountains of Colorado to southern Chile, and focuses on carbon cycling, species distributions, and conservation questions. Methods include both field and lab work, and then scaling those findings to broader scales via statistical modeling and remote sensing/GIS. Website: www.brianbuma.com. Mike Greene – My research group studies the mechanisms behind the collective-organization of ant societies. The ant colony is a distributed system and thus we are interested in the mechanisms by which individual ants make behavioral decisions, such as to fight an opponent, and how the many decisions by worker ants lead to the emergence of changes in colony behavior, such distributing foragers to a preferred food source. We study brain mechanisms including the roles of monoamine neurotransmitters in affecting decisions, the roles of chemical cues used to communicate information, and the patterns by which workers behavior. Our main system is the collective-organization of pavement ant (Tetramorium caespitum) wars between neighboring colonies. http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/CLAS/Departments/biology/AboutUs/ContactUs/Departm entDirectory/Pages/MichaelGreene.aspx Chris Miller - We develop and use sequencing-based and computational approaches to study microbial communities, with an emphasis on the microbial ecology of methane-emitting freshwater wetlands and the genomic diversity and evolution of archaea. For more information, visit http://microbial.systems. Greg Ragland - We study the genetic mechanisms controlling complex trait adaptation and speciation, evolution of climatic adaptation, and mechanisms of growth arrest during dormancy. We address questions in these areas using various approaches including, e.g., GWAS, quantitative transcriptomics, metabolic physiology, and functional genomics. See: https://raglandlab.wordpress.com Timberley Roane - We study the role of microorganisms in ecosystem health. We are particularly interested in the roles and responses of microorganisms to naturally-occurring physicochemical features as well as to disturbances, such as those introduced by mining and use of toxic chemicals. Our work involves a combination of field-based and laboratory-based experimentation using aspects of engineering, analytical chemistry, traditional microbiological methods, and genetic elucidation of microbial populations and mixed communities. We strive to address questions about the importance of microorganisms in their natural habitats. See: https://roanemicrobiology.weebly.com/. John Swallow - Our lab is primarily investigating sexual selection and the impact that this process has on the evolution of exaggerated morphological ornaments and the expression of behaviors. Current projects involve investigating the neurochemical role of monoamines in modulating aggressive interactions and mating behaviors in a variety of insect models including stalk-eyed flies, ants, and crickets. - https://clas.ucdenver.edu/directory/faculty-staff/john_g._swallow Mike Wunder - I study animal population biology with a special interest in migratory systems. Migratory systems are useful models because conditions experienced at one place and time influence dynamics observed in distant locations; these are systems that link the biology and health of continents. My long- term goal is to understand factors regulating population demography and geographic range distributions, so that we can predict responses to disease epidemics and changes in climate, environmental health, and human land use. I combine fieldwork, lab work and modeling to study these systems and have developed novel statistical tools for determining dietary and geographic histories from chemical and molecular compositions of animal tissues. - https://mikewunder.wordpress.com About us: The Department of Integrative Biology (IB) is housed at the downtown Denver Auraria campus including undergraduate and graduate programs in an array of STEM departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. IB also has close ties to the CU Denver medical school on the Anschutz campus, the Denver Botanic Gardens, and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, forming a vibrant research community, with additional opportunities to interact with surrounding universities, government labs, and the rapidly growing tech industry in the Front Range. Many research programs in IB include collaborations with, e.g., state and federal agencies, the mining industry, and the city of Denver to provide shared solutions to environmental monitoring and conservation. Denver is a fantastic city sitting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, with a nationally renowned performing arts center and museums, and a booming restaurant and brewery scene. There is easy access to mountain recreation and nearby field research facilities including the Mountain Research Station and its associated LTER site and the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.
