What are Undergraduate Highlights?
The undergraduate program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is a thriving, inspiring hub housing passionate students who are engaged in many different applications and projects relating to their areas of curiosity and expertise. We want to highlight these innovative and developing projects and people coming out of our program, in order to support and encourage more direct engagement with the world through the lens of ecology and biology. Explore recent projects below, and help to share and support work you care about!

 

Amedee standing on a pier overlooking the ocean

Effective Instructional Approaches in a Large Introductory Biology Classroom - Amedee Marchand Martella

March 24, 2016

We are at the forefront of an advancing and ever-changing world. Scientific and technological innovations have led to vast changes in the way we navigate our environments. Unfortunately, U.S. students consistently lag behind their international peers in science and mathematics. Thus, improving science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) performance and...

Kayla measuring and sampling plants from an observatory tower

How will plants react to the air of the future? - Kayla Carey

March 24, 2016

Throughout the fall of 2014 I was fortunate enough to study abroad in Australia with the School for International Training. Upon arriving ‘down under’, I was granted the exciting opportunity to conduct research at Australia’s largest climate change facility, the Eucalyptus Free-Air CO2 Enrichment experiment (EucFACE). The experiment manipulates carbon...

Rachael in a protective bee suit examining a bee on her mask

Honeybee research is the bee’s knees within the EBIO Honors department! - Rachael Kaspar

March 24, 2016

Rachael Kaspar EBIO Honors Candidate: Graduating in Spring 2016 Honeybee research is the bee’s knees within the EBIO Honors department! I first considered doing an Honors thesis at the beginning of my college career but thought it out of reach due to having to balance work and school. As time...

Spencer and a friend looking out over the rocky mountains

Do what you want to do! - Spencer Holtz

March 24, 2016

For me it took a long time to actually figure out how to connect what I liked to do with a project that was academic in nature. Working on an honors project gave me this opportunity as I was able to choose the area of research that I wanted to...

Andrew using a extractor to test samples in the lab

The Macro and the Micro - Andrew Hansen

March 24, 2016

When I came to CU four years ago, I chose to major in EBIO because I had always been fascinated by the astounding diversity and complexity of nature. I loved learning about speciation, biodiversity, natural history, and the amazing array of forms that life has assumed in the 3.5 billion...

Michaela standing in a rocky lush field

Plant-Insect Interactions - Micaela Enger

March 24, 2016

I grew up near the Shenandoah mountains collecting and pressing wildflowers with my grandmother and catching insects with my little brother which led me to become an EBIO major. I’m lucky enough to do my research on one of the most beautiful insects: the butterfly. I work in Bower’s lab...

Elizabeth sampling in a pond, holding a large net

From the Office to the Outdoors - Elizabeth Angell

March 24, 2016

Elizabeth Angell: From the Office to the Outdoors After spending a few years working in a business career upon graduating from Texas Tech University with my M.B.A., I decided to take a leap and follow my passion for nature. Becoming an EBIO student meant that I could gain the experience...

Hannah expressing herself in font of the grand canyon

Woodlands Restoration - Hannah Cruz

March 24, 2016

I chose to major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology because I’ve always had a passion for learning about the environment. I especially love learning about the ecology of arid and semi-arid lands. I’ve always been fond of warmer weather and hold a particular fascination with the diversity of desert life,...

Zach enjoying a moment of shade during a day of research

How to Hike in the Name of Science - Zach Amir

March 24, 2016

While I studied abroad in Australia, I had the opportunity to develop and implement my own original research project, which lead me to backpack across the world’s largest sand island, Frasier Island. While studying the habits and interactions of lace monitor lizards and the people on the island, I learned...

Abigail running analysis on samples in the lab - photo credit: Melanie Adams

From Bacteria to Boreal Toads: what can symbiotic bacteria tell us about disease tolerance? - Abigail Kimball

March 24, 2016

I am an undergraduate student in Dr. Valerie McKenzie’s laboratory studying amphibian skin microbiomes and the emerging amphibian infectious disease Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis . Specifically, my research aims to observe the shift in bacterial species composition from early egg stages throughout the process of metamorphosis. This summer I preformed field work...

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