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Graduate faculty and areas of research
Michael S. Allen, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Tennessee, 2002. Molecular environmental microbiology/microbial ecology; global gene regulation in bacteria; stress response; cell signaling; wastewater treatment; biofuels; biotechnology.
Samuel F. Atkinson, Professor; Ph.D., Oklahoma, 1986. Environmental science; effects of land use and land use change on water quality; effects of water quality alterations on ecosystem functions.
Brian Ayre, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Alberta, 1995. Sugar transport and metabolic engineering; nutrient partitioning and signaling via the phloem; control of flowering and plant architecture.
Thomas L. Beitinger, Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1974. Behavior and physiological ecology of aquatic animals; aquatic toxicology.
Robert C. Benjamin, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Harvard, 1980. Forensic applications of DNA profiling; characterization of avian loci useful for population and lineage analyses.
Warren W. Burggren, Professor and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Ph.D., East Anglia (UK), 1976. Developmental physiology of embryonic cardiac, respiratory and renal systems; environmental and genetic interactions in developing vertebrate embryos and fetuses.
Kent Chapman, Professor and Director of the Center for Plant Lipid Research; Ph.D., Arizona State, 1991. Lipid signaling and control of plant growth/responses to stress; metabolic engineering; agricultural biotechnology.
Rebecca Dickstein, Professor; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, 1985. Genetics, biochemistry, and molecular and cell biology of developing symbiotic nitrogen fixing nodules in legumes, especially the model legume Medicago truncatula.
Edward Dzialowski, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Drexel, 1999. Cardiovascular and respiratory developmental physiology; physiological ecology; physiological responses to environmental stress and toxins.
Lloyd C. Fitzpatrick, Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Biology; Ph.D., Kent State, 1970. Ecophysiology and life history.
Jannon L. Fuchs, Professor; Ph.D., California at San Diego, 1979. Role of primary cilia in the nervous system: cell proliferation, neural development and neurodegenerative diseases.
Harrell Gill-King, Director, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology; Ph.D., Southern Methodist, 1974. Human identification; skeletal biology; taphonomy; human evolution; comparative primate biochemistry.
Art J. Goven, Professor and Chair; Ph.D., North Carolina, 1978. Comparative immunology; immunotoxicology; immunoparasitology.
Guenter W. Gross, Regents Professor and Director of the Center for Network Neuroscience; Ph.D., Florida State, 1973. Network neurophysiology, pharmacology and toxicology using neuronal networks growing on microelectrode arrays; applications to drug development and biosensors.
David J. Hoeinghaus, Assistant Professor; Ph.D. Texas A&M, 2006. Responses of aquatic comminutes and ecosystems to environmental change; food webs; biodiversity and ecosystem function; fisheries; tropical rivers.
Lee E. Hughes, Assistant Professor; Ph.D. North Texas, 1998. Pyrimidine metabolism in actinomycetes; student learning and retention through undergraduate research experiences; assessment of blended and online learning in the biological sciences.
Duane Huggett, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Mississippi, 2001. Aquatic and mechanistic toxicology; comparative animal physiology and pharmacology; toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics; pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment.
Ione Hunt von Herbing, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1994. Marine conservation physiology: use of physiological tools to study impacts of anthropogenic stress on marine fish populations.
Pudur Jagadeeswaran, Professor; Ph.D., Indian Institute of Science, 1978. Genetics of blood diseases; use of zebrafish as a model to study mammalian hemostasis and thrombosis; role of aquatic proteins in hemostasis.
Jeff A. Johnson, Assistant Professor; Ph.D. Wisconsin, 2003. Evolution; speciation; systematic; phylogenetics; phylogeography; population genetics; conservation biology.
James H. Kennedy, Professor; Ph.D., Virginia Tech, 1980. Stream ecology; aquatic insect biology; biodiversity studies; ecotoxicology.
Daniel A. Kunz, Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Ph.D., Minnesota, 1979. Cyanide biology; enzymology and molecular biology of microbial cyanide metabolism; bacterial physiology; antibiotic resistance.
Thomas W. LaPoint, Professor; Ph.D., Idaho State, 1981. Aquatic ecotoxicology; ecological risk assessment; sediment toxicity; contaminant fate and effects in aquatic communities.
Gerard A. O'Donovan, Professor; Ph.D., California at Davis, 1965. Pyrimidine metabolism in bacteria; Pseudomonas ATCase; pyrimidine recycling (salvage) circuits.
Pamela Padilla, Associate Professor; Ph.D., New Mexico, 1998. Use of Caenorhabditis elegans to study the genetic mechanisms associated with stress, cell cycle progression and suspended animation.
Robert M. Pirtle, Professor; Ph.D., Louisville, 1973. Plant and mammalian gene structure, organization and expression; genetic engineering of genes for pathogenesis related proteins in cotton.
Aaron P. Roberts, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Miami, 2005. Aquatic toxicology; molecular toxicology; ultraviolet radiation in aquatic ecosystems; nanotoxicology.
Douglas D. Root, Associate Professor; Ph.D., California at Los Angeles, 1992. Molecular motors; single molecule assays; protein chemistry; molecular modeling; super-resolution microscopy; fluorescence spectroscopy; muscle contractile proteins.
Harris D. Schwark, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Illinois, 1985. Neurobiology primary cilia with emphasis on roles in the somatosensory system.
Jyoti Shah, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Notre Dame, 1991. Plant defense against pathogen and insects; signaling mechanisms; long-distance signaling; genetic engineering.
Richard J. Sinclair, Associate Professor and Dean of the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science; Ph.D., Oklahoma Health Science Center, 1973. Neurohumoral control of circulation.
Don W. Smith, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1963. Steroids in plants; natural compounds competing with estrogen for binding sites; vegetative propagation of woody plants difficult to root.
Kevin J. Stevens, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Guelph, 2003. Impacts of anthropogenic stress on wetlands; plant ecology; plant anatomy; wetland ecology; constructed wetlands; mycorrhizae.
David C. Tam, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Minnesota, 1987. Computational neuroscience; neural simulation; spike train analysis; neuronal networks; learning mechanisms; emotion processing; sensorimotor control; neurophysiology; neuropsychology; neuropsychopharmacology.
Ruthanne Thompson, Assistant Professor; Ed.D., North Texas, 2003. Measuring effects on pre-service science teacher efficacy; science teacher staff development; science education as a field of study; leadership support of science teachers.
Barney Venables, Associate Professor; Ph.D., North Texas, 1976. Biological effects and instrumental analysis of environmental contaminants; comparative immunotoxicology.
Amanda J. Wright, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Harvard, 2003. Genetic analysis of the control of division plane orientation in maize and Arabidopsis; plant cell biology.
For More Information
University of North Texas Department of Biological Sciences
1155 Union Circle #305220
Denton, Texas 76203-5220
Phone: 940-565-2011
TTY callers:940-367-8652
Biology Building, Room 210
www.unt.edu
biology.unt.edu
Toulouse Graduate School
940-565-2383
Biological Sciences
Opportunities for graduate studies
The Department of Biological Sciences provides you with a high quality education while you pursue a graduate degree in biology, biochemistry or environmental science. Scholarly research, strong professor-student mentoring, high-quality instruction and professional community service are the foundation of the department.
The cornerstone of our graduate programs is the creation of new knowledge through research. We offer you opportunities to conduct research, leading to your theses or dissertations, in aquatic biology, aquatic toxicology, biochemistry, cell/molecular biology, ecology, environmental sciences, forensic biology, genetics, microbiology, neurobiology, physiology and plant sciences. Our research is supported through numerous federal, state, private and non-profit sources.
Department facilities for research and graduate training occupy more than 200,000 square feet in the Life Sciences Complex and the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building. Resources include basic biological instrumentation, common instrument areas with facilities for proteomic and genomic research, an instrument shop, darkrooms, greenhouses, and land and water vehicles.
Admission requirements
You must meet the requirements of the Toulouse Graduate School and specific requirements for admission to our master's and doctoral programs. Visit biology.unt.edu or consult the graduate catalog at catalog.unt.edu for admission requirements. For more information, e-mail graduateschool@unt.edu or call 940-565-2383 .
Degree requirements
Master of science degrees
- Biology - a 30-semester-hour scholarly research degree requiring 24 hours of formal course work, special problems and seminars at the 5000-6000 levels, and a 6-hour thesis
- Biology: Teaching in the Life Sciences - a 36-semester-hour nonresearch degree that includes an initial teacher certification in the life sciences at the secondary level and requires 18 hours at the 5000-6000 levels in biology and 18 hours in secondary education at the 5000-6000 levels (Admission to the secondary education courses requires meeting all College of Education requirements. You are not eligible for our Ph.D. program by completing the non-thesis M.S.)
- Biochemistry - a 30-semester-hour scholarly research degree requiring 24 hours of formal course work (with three core courses), special problems and seminars at the 5000-6000 levels, and a 6-hour thesis
- Environmental science (thesis option) - a 36-semester-hour scholarly research degree requiring 30 hours of organized course work, special problems and seminars at the 5000-6000 levels, and a 6-hour thesis
- Environmental science (non-thesis option) - a 36-semester-hour Professional Science Master's Degree requiring 10 hours of core courses in environmental science; 10 hours of elective courses in environmental science; 10-12 hours of supplemental skills-based courses in business, writing, communication, public administration or environmental ethics; and a 4-6 hour internship (This interdisciplinary degree includes rigorous advanced training in environmental science and the development of workplace skills valued by industry, business, government and non-profit sectors.)
Master of Arts degrees
- Biology - a 36-semester-hour, non-thesis degree requiring course work at the 5000-6000 levels and a language requirement (Students completing the M.A. are not eligible for our Ph.D. program.
Doctor of Philosophy degree
A Ph.D. degree in Biology or Environmental Science requires 90 semester hours at the 5000-6000 levels beyond the bachelor's degree or 60 hours beyond the master's degree, including a 12-hour dissertation. Specific requirements may vary among the four programs. The Ph.D. represents creation of new knowledge through independent research that culminates in a dissertation of scientific merit. You are expected to have been published or be accepted for publication with at least one original research article in a refereed journal before graduation.
Research Centers
The Center for Network Neuroscience focuses on in vitro preparations, especially monolayer cultures of mammalian central nervous system cells, and emphasizes research on pattern generation, storage and recognition. www.cnns.org
The Center for Plant Lipid Research seeks to understand the influence of lipids on the growth and development of plants through contemporary cellular, biochemical and molecular approaches. Efforts also contribute to the discovery of new products and uses for plant derived lipids and their potential public benefit. biology.unt.edu/people/kent-chapman
The Center for Watershed Reservoir Assessment and Management conducts research on techniques and best management practices for assessing and managing watersheds and reservoirs, addressing current and emerging problems and issues. www.geog.unt.edu/~hunter/files/cwram
Elm Fork Education Center is dedicated to the education of the public, especially K-12 students, relating to environmental issues. The center provides investigative encounters that engage students in field activities and discovery experiences. www.efec.unt.edu
The Institute of Applied Sciences provides research and educational programs addressing natural and human resource issues. The institute also has laboratories for environmental chemistry, aquatic toxicology, geographic information systems, data visualization and analyses of archaeological samples. www.ias.unt.edu
Financial assistance
Qualified graduate students are supported through competitive teaching assistantships or research assistantships funded through research grants to faculty. Nine-month stipends range from $13,500 for entering master's students to $16,500 for Ph.D. candidates. Out-of-state and international students who are supported at least one-half time are eligible for in-state tuition. Contact the department for information about assistantships.
Contact Student Financial Aid and Scholarships for student loan information at 940-565-2302 or 877-881-1014. Information about financial aid offered through the graduate school, including fellowships, is available at www.gradschool.unt.edu.