 <!– |
As for every family around the world, the last few years have been tumultuous ones for the Biology family here at UNC. We are excited to be settling in to a new and improved normal, and to share the details of that new normal with you here, in our first Newsletter since 2020. Starting from the top, this year we welcomed a new Department Chair, four new Associate Chairs, and three new faculty…
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
<!– |
<!– |
|
Sophie McCoy,
Assistant Professor of Biology
|
Dr. McCoy has a joint appointment in UNC’s Environment, Ecology and Energy Program, and is a Lang Early Career Fellow with the Phycological Society of America.
Research Focus
Dr. McCoy investigates the combined contributions of ecology, evolution, physiology, microbiology, and environmental chemistry to ecosystem resilience. She is particularly interested in the feedbacks between biodiversity and environmental quality.
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
<!– |
<!– |
|
Senay Yitbarek,
Assistant Professor of Biology
|
Dr. Yitbarek joined the department in 2020 as a Carolina Fellow for Faculty Diversity and USDA NIFA Fellow. He made the transition to the tenure track this year.
Research Focus
Dr. Yitbarek investigates the ecology and evolution of host-microbe interactions, with the overall goal of understanding how microbes spread, persist, and affect their host populations.
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
<!– |
<!– |
|
Nat Prunet,
Research Assistant Professor,
Director of the UNC Microscopy Core
|
Dr. Prunet will be joining us this semester from UCLA, where he taught Biology and Microscopy. His skill at the microscope is apparent in the image we used to open this newsletter, which won 8th place in this year’s Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition
Research Focus
Before Dr. Prunet opted for a career in microscopy, he trained as a plant developmental biologist, a field he chose for the wealth of imaging possibilities it offers.
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
Support Faculty in Biology
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
Isabel Silva, Ph.D. student in the Biology Department
|
|
|
|
|
<!– |
<!– |
|
Carolina Biologists in the Galapagos
|
Biology Professor John Bruno and Graduate Student Isabel Silva are marine ecologists who join dozens of other UNC scientists to conduct research at the Galapagos Science Center. Bruno and Silva investigate the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in the ocean. They study how fishing and fossil fuel use alter marine food webs and attempt to identify local conservation strategies to mitigate these impacts.
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
UNC graduate student Nico Frasson and UNC undergraduates Emma Reinhardt and Torin O’brien look for singing Lincoln’s sparrows. (photo by UNC undergraduate Alyssa LaFaro)
|
|
|
|
|
<!– |
<!– |
|
Crouching Researcher, Hidden Sparrow
|
Four UNC students spent their summer in Colorado with Biology Associate Professor Keith Sockman, stalking Lincoln’s sparrows in search of answers to fundamental biological questions related to learning and population responses to climate change.
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
Support Research in Biology
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
Dr. Mara Evans giving a lecture on Biodiversity. UNC Undergraduate Kevin Nguyan is on hand to assist and is easily identifiable as a Peer Instructor by his neon yellow vest (photo by Dr. Evans co-instructor, Christina Burch).
|
|
|
|
|
<!– |
<!– |
|
A New Curriculum For Biology Majors
|
After more than 5 years of planning, this fall we launched the first new curriculum for Biology Majors in 40 years. The new curriculum is designed around student needs, it will allow biology majors to build up skills and mastery of concepts gradually, as they progress through their college years, and it will allow students more flexibility to focus on their interests, without compromising on a well-rounded biological education.
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
Support Teaching in Biology
|
|
<!– |
|
|
| <!– |
|
<!– |
|
|
|
