The Department of Biology is a community of highly skilled scientists, who are active researchers, teachers, mentors, and faculty leaders. Dedicated to the principles of investigative learning, they have built strong programs in cell/molecular biology, genetics, evolution, physiology, ecology and other areas. By promoting student-faculty research, equity pedagogy, and innovative curricula, the Biology Department faculty contribute both to the understanding of biological processes and to the development of a new generation of scientists.
Current areas of faculty research include developmental biology, cancer biology, microbial ecology, conservation biology, animal physiology, animal behavior, and population genetics. Our professors earn competitive research grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. National Park Service, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and many other institutions. Their findings are published in leading journals such as Science, Nature, and many discipline-specific publications. Department members have published numerous peer-reviewed articles that included students as co-authors; some students have been invited to co-present at major conferences as well.
Department members played a key role in designing state-of-the-art laboratories, teaching spaces, and computer-enhanced equipment in the renovated New London Hall. The College has its own living laboratory as well; the 770-acre Arboretum is the largest in New England and the site of ecological data collection for nearly seven decades. Other field sites are nearby, such as coastal estuaries and salt marshes.
Both faculty and students benefit from the proximity to Pfizer Central Research, the Mystic Aquarium, the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, and the major medical centers at Yale, Brown, and the leading universities of Boston. Funded summer internships on campus keep many students engaged in research with their professors year-round.
