Dr. Megan Bowman – In collaboration with the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission, the Bowman lab aims to develop assays for high throughput monitoring of endangered species. Many aquatic species are monitored by netting, careful identification and counting, which is a labor-intensive practice. Second, the organisms must be plentiful enough to collect and identify. We hypothesize that this surveillance method may be missing organisms that exist in low population areas. We believe that monitoring using environmental DNA may be more successful in identifying the presence of endangered species in areas of low population density. Further, this non-invasive monitoring method eliminates stress of species capture and potential damage to their delicate habitats. Our current research projects involve the continued development and validation of PCR assays for 3 species: the endangered Cape Fear Shiner (Notropis mekistocholas), the Atlantic Pigtoe Mussel (Fusconaia masoni and the Carolina Redhorse (Moxostoma Carolina). In addition, we are working to expand a larger project using eDNA monitoring of the Eastern Hellbender and Mudpuppy.Students will have the opportunity to do field work, DNA isolation, PCR, qPCR, and use bioinformatics for assay design and sequence analysis.
Dr. Robert Charvat – The Charvat lab studies Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite found around the world infecting approximately one-third of the human population. Toxoplasmosis, the disease caused by infection with T. gondii, is the second leading cause of death from food-borne illness in the United States, and for which there are currently no efficacious treatments. As a result, our group is broadly interested in novel drug discovery and understanding the mechanism of action of those compounds as well as others with intriguing effects on normal parasite biology.
Dr. Neil Coffield – Our lab focuses on using Danio rerio, commonly known as zebrafish, to study the reproductive and developmental effects of embryonic exposure to endocrine disruptors and other environmental factors. Zebrafish are an ideal model organism for toxicology research due to their transparent embryos, rapid development, and physiological similarities to humans. These characteristics allow us to observe developmental processes in real-time and draw parallels to human biology. Future experiments will focus on fish behavior after EDC exposure by monitoring schooling, color preference, and feeding. These studies are aimed at helping us understand the broader ecological impacts of chemical exposure. By elucidating the mechanisms underlying these effects, we aim to contribute to the development of environmental practices that protect both human health and aquatic ecosystems.
Dr. Daniel Greene – In the Greene lab, we are interested in measuring how arthropod community patterns change across managed and natural landscapes in response to/alongside environmental gradients (e.g., climatic and landscape data). Specifically, we are researching how different arthropod taxa/functional groups (e.g., ants overall, decomposers, predators, etc.) respond to urbanization here in the Piedmont Lowlands physiographic province of the Appalachian Highlands. We sample arthropods using methods such as pitfall traps and mosquito oviposition cups, gather local environmental data via sensors that we deploy, and utilize geospatial land cover data layers (e.g., USDA Copland Data Layer) to understand how arthropod communities are spatiotemporally structured. We spend our time identifying a wide variety of arthropods, learning different ecological modeling and mapping techniques, understanding our findings within the context of climate change, and enjoying our fieldwork! Please reach out to us at any time, as we love to collaborate and learn from others!
Dr. Niky Hughes – My lab research is the physiological adaptations of plants to environmental stress, with a focus on plant pigments. Questions my students and I have been exploring recently include: What factors influence autumn leaf color in temperate deciduous trees? Why do plants make red spots around microbial infections? Can surface structures of superhydrophobic leaves help us design more water-repellant, biofilm-resistant, surfaces? How do clouds impact plant water loss and carbon gain? Projects include a collaborative team of researchers at several institutions in the USA, seeking to determine which abiotic factors best predict autumn leaf color in North American deciduous trees. The exploration of novel patterns used by plants to achieve superhydrophobicity. In this study, students use scanning electron microscopy to image surface structures, and also take nano-imprints of fresh leaves in order to make 3D molds. My Research Gate Profile My Google Scholar Profile
Dr. Dane Kuppinger – My lab studies the effects of fire in dry forest communities of the Piedmont with a focus on the Sauratown Mountains of North Carolina. We utilize dendrochronology to uncover the history of fire within a community and its impacts upon forest structure and composition. GIS mapping techniques allow us to estimate the extent of historical fires. This work has allowed us to document the previously unknown fire history of Pilot Mountain State Park back to 1853 and measure the effect of land management, ownership patterns, and land use practices upon the mountain. Ongoing work at Hanging Rock State Park will extend our understanding of fire and vegetation dynamics across the majority of the Sauratown Mountains.
Dr. Ken McKenna – Our lab at HPU aims to understand how the structure of developmental processes contributes to the direction of phenotypic and genetic evolution. Specific research projects employ genetic, cellular, and physiological assays with a primary focus on the development of larval color patterns in butterflies and moths, requiring creativity, patience, fortitude, and most of all, a driving curiosity to unravel the mysteries of biological evolution. Our lab values community and a team based approach that ultimately fosters ambitious creativity that pushes the boundaries of current knowledge in evolutionary developmental biology.
Dr. Alex Mosier – The Mosier lab studies the circadian clock, amolecular mechanism keeps time so that the organism can be proactive rather than reactive to changes due to the Earth’s day/ night cycle. This core clock is conserved across all branches of the tree of life. The first area of focus of the research is investigating how the core clock relays this temporal information through protein-protein interactions. The second part of the lab is looking into the novel field of quantum biology and studying how quantum mechanics impact and regulate the clock’s functionality.
Dr. Josef Stiegler – The Stiegler lab studies the anatomy and evolutionary diversification of dinosaur fossil species and their close relatives. This past May, he took three students on a field research trip to New Mexico to collect new fossils from vertebrate animals that lived during the Norian stage of the Late Triassic Period (about 220-210 million years ago).
Dr. Matt Talbert – I work primarily in Drosophila melanogaster, using the extensive genetic and genomic tools available in this model system to investigate the molecular mechanisms influencing traits related to aging, obesity, diabetes, behavior, and development. Some of my most significant work has involved transcriptomic study of the fly head capsule during diet-induced obesity, the influence of diet-induced obesity on memory, as well as investigating the molecular framework of peripheral insulin-like peptide resistance. The Talbert Lab is currently interested in using genome wide association study to identify genetic modifiers of body proportion and body size scaling.
Dr. Jeremy Whitson – In the Whitson lab, we study the molecular changes that occur in our cells with age and whether different natural products can affect these processes. In particular, we are focused on measuring the age-related posttranslational modifications that occur in the eye lens, which play a causative role in the development of age-related nuclear cataract; the leading cause of blindness globally. We use a variety of techniques on mouse and monkey lenses, including Western blots, turbidity assays, proteomics, and metabolomics to answer research questions.