Choosing a Thesis Advisor

Students should feel free to contact any of the faculty listed below and talk to them about possible Honors Thesis work. However, please remember that some may already have filled available slots in their labs. Also, in some cases they may recommend that a student work most closely with one of their graduate or postdoctoral students. This is entirely appropriate and can be highly rewarding. In addition to the names listed below, writing instructors Margie Krest and Harrison Carpenter are available to assist with writing the honors thesis, although they cannot serve as faculty advisors for the project.

For basic information about the Honors Program see the Special Research Opportunities page or for more on Honors Courses, see the Honors page

.

List of Advisors and Types of Thesis Projects

For further information, click on the name of a faculty member, or see the listings under "Faculty & Research" in the left side navagation bar on any page.

• Dr. William Adams . Plant ecophysiology; photoprotection; photosynthesis; environmental stress
• Dr. David Armstrong . Ecology and biogeography of vertebrates (focus: mammals); field- or museum-based.
• Dr. Deane Bowers . Insect and plant ecology, plant-insect interactions, and prey-predator interactions.
• Dr. William Bowman . Plant ecology; alpine ecosystem science; plant-soil and plant-plant interactions. Summer projects conducted at our Mountain Research Station.
• Dr. Michael Breed . Behavior and ecology of social insects (ants, bees, wasps).
• Dr. Sharon Collinge . Habitat loss & fragmentation; patterns of landscape change; restoration ecology.
• Dr. Alex Cruz . Behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary studies of birds and fishes.
• Dr. Barbara Demmig-Adams . Plant antioxidants; carotenoids; library projects on diet-gene interaction.
• Dr. Pamela Diggle . Development, evolution, and ecology of plant reproductive systems.
• Dr. Ned Friedman . Evolution of plants; early diversification of land plants & coevolution with fungi.
• Dr. Michael Grant . Computer applications to ecology and evolution involving simulations, video imaging, etc. Experimental genetics and ecology of plants.
• Dr. Robert Guralnick . Evolution of invertebrates; morphology, genes, and biodiversity informatics.
• Dr. William Lewis . Aquatic ecology; water quality and aquatic organisms.
• Dr. Yan Linhart . Evolutionary ecology; plants/animal interaction; role of plant chemistry.
• Dr. Andrew Martin . Molecular genetics; phylogeography; conservation genetics (especially of fishes).
• Dr. Jeffry Mitton . Evolutionary dynamics of mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA.
• Dr. Russell Monson . Subalpine forest ecosystem function; forest carbon and water cycles.
• Dr. Thomas Ranker . Plant systematics; systematics of tropical and neotropical flora; conservation biology.
• Dr. Steve Schmidt . Microbial ecology; plant/microbe interactions; biogeochemistry; mycorrhizae.
• Dr. Timothy Seastedt . Ecology of invasive plant species; environmental change in ecosystems.
• Dr. David Stock . Developmental genetic mechanisms of the evolution of teeth in fishes.
• Dr. Alan Townsend . Terrestrial ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry; global environmental change.
• Dr. Carol Wessman . Landscape & regional ecology; disturbance; land-use/cover; remote sensing/GIS.