Skip to main content
Ithaca College Icon / Search Icon / Menu Created with Sketch. Icon / Close Created with Sketch.
  • Admission Icon / Caret Created with Sketch.
    • Life at IC
    • Undergraduate Admission
    • Graduate Admission
    • Tuition & Financial Aid
    • Visit
  • Academics Icon / Caret Created with Sketch.
    • Business
    • Communications
    • Health Sciences and Human Performance
    • Humanities and Sciences
    • Music, Theatre, and Dance
  • IC Resources
  • About Icon / Caret Created with Sketch.
    • Office of the President
    • Ithaca College at a Glance
    • Awards and Accolades
    • Five-Year Strategic Plan
  • Public Health
  • Tools Icon / Caret Created with Sketch.
    • Directories
    • Campus Map
    • Course Catalog
    • Apps
    • Intercom
  • Athletics
  • Alumni
  • Events
  • News
  • Giving
  • VISIT
  • APPLY Icon / Caret Created with Sketch.
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate

Faculty Research Labs

Home / Academics / School of Humanities and Sciences / Department of Biology / Faculty Research Labs
  • Department of Biology
  • Academic Programs and Courses
    • The Ithaca College Difference
    • Biochemistry Program
    • Neuroscience Minor
    • PreHealth Sciences
    • Current Courses
  • Major and Minor Options at a Glance
    • Biology Major: BA or BS
    • Biology Minor
  • Faculty and Staff
    • Emeriti and Retired Faculty
  • Student-Faculty Research
    • How to Register for Research
    • Elective Research
    • Required Research: BIOL-302
    • Honors Research
    • Summer Research
  • Faculty Research Labs
  • Information for Current Students
    • Bio Club
    • PreHealth Sciences
    • TriBeta
    • Awards, Honors, and Scholarships
    • Planning Your Future
    • How to Ask Faculty for an Evaluation Letter
    • How to Choose a Grad School
    • Internships and Jobs: Databases
    • Registry of Undergraduate Researchers
    • Education after IC
    • Exit Survey for Most Recent Graduates
  • Biology Learning Center
  • Seminar Series: Fall 2023
  • Meetings, Announcements & KUDOS
  • Alumni Information
    • Alumni, what's new?
    • Connect with IC Alumni
    • In the IC News!
  • FAQ from student perspectives
    • Alumni Anecdotes

menu

Connect with us
instagram linkedin
cells under a fluorescent microscope
Ed Cluett: Cell Biology

Cholesterol—can’t live with it, can’t live without it.  Investigations in several aspects of cholesterol trafficking:

-- How and where cholesterol goes inside cells
-- How the cell regulates synthesized and internalized cholesterol
-- How changes in the distribution of cholesterol affect the function of certain proteins particularly in relation to certain cancers and Alzheimer’s disease

Ed's Faculty Page
a red-orange and black bird held by its feet
Nanda Cortes: Ornithology

-- Field of molecular ecology--I am particularly interested in the role that past or present geographic barriers play in the evolutionary history of species, emphasizing their phylogeography, genomics and conservation.

-- Song variation between populations of closely related bird species

Nanda's Faculty Page
cells under fluorescent microscope
Dave Gondek: Microbiology

-- Compare, via in silico identification, virulence factors which are unique to Chlamydia species and allow for host adaptation
-- Create Chlamydia virulence factors fusion with fluorescent proteins via in vitro moleculer cloning
-- Contrast spatial and temporal regulation of Chlamydia virulence factors via in vivo over expression during infection and "immunity".
-- Develop hybrid Chlamydia strains for in vivo screening of increased/decreased host specificity

Dave's Faculty Page
line traces of action potentials and a photo of a cell under fluorescent microscope
Jean Hardwick: Neurobiology, Animal Physiology

-- Electrophysiological characterization of individual neurons in the cardiac ganglion
-- Analysis of changes in neuronal gene expression using PCR and immunohistochemistry
-- Biochemical analysis of changes in protein levels using Western Blot analysis

Jean's Faculty Page
diagram of alternative gene splicing
Maki Inada: Molecular Biology

How are genes turned on and off?

--Identifying factors involved in splicing via high throughput screens

--Cloning a library of mutants via complementation 

--Identify mutations in factors involved in splicing by whole genome sequencing

--Examining the role of RNA polymerase C-terminal domain in regulation via mutagenesis

Maki's Faculty Page
four dwarf hamster pups in a huddle
Leann Kanda: Behavior, Ecology

Animal personality and environment shaping animal movements

-- Lab: personality of dwarf hamsters influencing social and foraging behaviors
-- Field: wildlife personality in urban vs rural landscapes
-- Field: habitat use and movement of mammals and amphibians 

Leann's Faculty Page
drawing of a clear worm and its internal organs
Te-Wen Lo: Genetics

-- Understanding protein signaling specificity and how developmental processes evolve.

Learn more about the Lo Lab.

Learn more about the Woods-Lo Lab tardigrade collaboration.

Te-Wen's Faculty Page
black and white leaf cells next to two false-color images of leaves
Peter Melcher: Whole Plant Physiology

Investigations on plant responses to the environment.

Current focus on:

-- Impacts of introduced species in Puerto Rico
-- Adaptations to seasonal freezing and drought

Peter's Faculty Page
four water fleas
Brooks Miner: Aquatic Evolutionary Ecology

-- Adaptation to UV radiation exposure in alpine ponds
-- Divergence in thermal tolerance between lake and pond populations
-- Molecular methods to measure DNA damage and identify species

Brooks' Faculty Page
a slug, slug glue in a tube, and a diagram of a slug glue protein
Andy Smith: Animal Physiology, Biomechanics

How animal glues work: guiding the development of bioinspired medical adhesives

-- Characterize the components of a biological secretion that forms an unusually tough glue 
-- Determine how different proteins and metal ions create toughness and adhesion in this glue

Andy's Faculty Page
a succulent plant with white flower
Susan Witherup: Plant Systematics and Evolution

Research on Puerto Rican Fan Flowers:

        - Pollination Biology
        - Genetic Diversity
        - Impacts of Invasive Species on Islands

Susan's Faculty Page
a red-dyed fish embryo on a black background
Ian Woods: Computational & Developmental

Computational & Developmental Bio 

-- Computational biology: learn and apply bioinformatics and programming skills to genome-scale analyses in humans and model organisms 
-- Developmental biology: analyze the roles of genes acting in sensory neuron development and tissue regeneration.

Also, Learn more about the Woods-Lo Lab on tardigrade collaboration.

Ian's Faculty Page
Connect with us
instagram linkedin
Ithaca College
953 Danby Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 274-3011

Footer menu

  • Contact
  • Directory
  • Emergency
  • Directions
  • Visit
  • Academic Calendar
  • Make a Gift
  • Accessibility
  • Employment
  • Safety
  • x icon X
  • facebook icon Created with Sketch. Facebook
  • istagram icon Created with Sketch. Instagram
  • youtube icon Created with Sketch. YouTube
  • Threads icon Threads
  • TikTock icon TikTok
© 2023 Ithaca College. All rights reserved
Non-Discrimination Statement | Privacy Policy