EBIO Faculty travel the world to conduct research, browse in-depth stories below

Rob Laport examines a flowering plant

Polyploidy and Diversification of the Creosote Bush

July 17, 2017

Polyploidy - whole genome duplication - is common among flowering plants, but its role in driving patterns of biodiversity, structuring plant communities, and influencing plant-animal interactions remains poorly known. Will Weaver, a recent graduate of EBIO, and Julienne Ng, a postdoc in the Smith Lab , accompanied Rob Laport to...

Aerial shot of the fairy circle landscape - photo by Lauren Shoemaker

Namibia Fairy Circles

June 8, 2017

EBIO Graduate Student - Lauren Shoemaker, recalls her time spent in Namibia investigating the formation of the famed Namibian Fairy Circles. Lauren, Nichole Barger and Holly Barnard spent half a month in the NamibRand Nature Reserve. Fairy Circles are generally described to be circular patches of land, devoid of vegetation...

Amanda Hund, examining a barn swallow, captured in a net

Attractive males advertise clean territories

Feb. 1, 2016

Amanda Hund. I am a PhD student in EBIO working with Dr. Rebecca Safran. My research focuses on understanding how parasites may play an important role in how new species form. Specifically, I am interested in how parasites influence the evolution of sexual traits across closely related populations. To explore...

kika and erin standing next to wog rd. sign

The Wog Wog Project

July 14, 2015

Spending 10 hours a day in 100 degree heat trudging through the Australian bush may sound like most people’s worst nightmare, but for students Kika Tarsi and Erin Polka it’s all in a day’s work. Kika and Erin are involved in a research project being conducted by EBIO in partnership...

New York City, Central Park

Microbes in Central Park soil: If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere.

Oct. 1, 2014

Soil microbes that thrive in the deserts, rainforests, prairies and forests of the world can also be found living beneath New York City’s Central Park, according to a surprising new study led by Colorado State University and the University of Colorado Boulder. The research team analyzed 596 soil samples collected...

New CU-Boulder study shows differences in mammal responses to climate change.

Jan. 27, 2014

If you were a shrew snuffling around a North American forest, you would be 27 times less likely to respond to climate change than if you were a moose grazing nearby. That is just one of the findings of a new University of Colorado Boulder assessment led by Assistant Professor...