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Department of Biological Sciences College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics

Meet Us

Department Leadership

Susanne Lindgren

Chair & Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Microbiology, Prevalence and Pathogenic Mechanisms of Salmonella and E.coli, Vaccine Development, and Biosource Tracking of Bacterial Contaminents in Water

Robert Crawford

Graduate Coordinator & Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Tales From the Microbe-Host Interface

Andrew (Drew) Reams

Assistant Chair & Professor

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  • Location: TSC 4007
  • Phone: (916) 278-7678
  • Website
  • Specialty & Interests: Genetics, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Cancer Genetics, Experimental Evolution

Faculty

Robin Altman

Associate Professor (ON SABBATICAL 2024-25)

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  • Specialty & Interests: Cardiovascular Physiology, Blood-Brain Barrier, Alzheimer's Disease, Cognitive Dysfunction

Evangeline Ballerini

Assistant Professor

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Jim Baxter

Professor (FERP)

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  • Specialty & Interests: Plant-Mycorrhizal Interactions, Community Ecology, Biodiversity

Ron Coleman

Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Evolutionary Ecology, Behavior, Fishes, Amphibians, Reptiles, Fisheries, Conservation

Clint Collins

Assistant Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: functional morphology of vertebrates and movement ecology

Tim Davidson

Associate Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Marine Ecology, Invasive Species, Environmental Science, Biological Conservation

Arik Davidyan

Assistant Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Biology Education, Diversity Equity and Inclusion in STEM Education, Exercise and Stress Physiology, Science Communication

Anna Doty

Assistant Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Ecophysiology, Ecology, Mammalogy, Conservation physiology

Jonathan Gilkerson

Assistant Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Plant Physiology, Arabidopsis thaliana, Physcomitrella patens, Cell Signaling, Abiotic and Biotic Stress

Lani Gleason

Associate Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Ecological & Evolutionary Genomics, Molecular Ecology, Ecophysiology, Marine Biology

Enid Gonzalez-Orta

Professor & SEE Director

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  • Specialty & Interests: microbial ecology and plant-bacterial interactions

Brett Holland

Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Experimental Evolution, Evolutionary Genetics, Sexual Selection, Social Behavior (BIO 20)

Christine Kirvan

Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Infectious Disease, Autoimmunity, and Molecular Mimicry

Jamie Kneitel

Professor (ON SABBATICAL 2024-25)

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  • Specialty & Interests: Community Ecology, Seasonal Wetlands, Disturbance Ecology, Spatial Ecology, Conservation Biology

Marina LaForgia

Assistant Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: community ecology, plant ecology, seed banks, functional traits, temporal variability, climate change, invasive species, grasslands

Chris Lopez

Assistant Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Microbiology; pathogenic bacteria; host-microbiota interactions; food microbiology

Jennifer Lundmark

Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Cardiovascular Physiology; Northmanology

Kelly McDonald

Professor & CSMS Director

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  • Specialty & Interests: Biology Education, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Biotechnology and Bioinformatics

Joya Mukerji

Assistant Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Inclusive STEM Success, Biology Education, Molecular & Cellular Biology / Virology, CUREs (course-based undergraduate research experiences)

Kimberly Mulligan

Associate Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Molecular and Cellular Biology, Cell to Cell Communication, Neurodevelopment and Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Hao Nguyen

Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Cell and Molecular Biology; Colon Carcinogenesis

Erin Olsan

Assistant Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Molecular and Cellular Biology, Microbiology, Host-Microbiota Interactions

Tom Peavy

Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Molecular Genetics

Adam Rechs

Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Neurophysiology, Digestive Physiology

Rosalee Sprowls

Professor (FERP)

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  • Specialty & Interests: Human Anatomy, Neuroscience, Electron Microscopy

Clayton Visger

Associate Professor (ON SABBATICAL SPRING 2025)

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  • Specialty & Interests: Evolution, Bioinformatics, Genomics, Ecological Modeling

Michael Wright

Associate Professor

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  • Specialty & Interests: Cellular Neuroscience, Motor Pattern Generation

Lecturers

Ruth Ballard

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  • Specialty & Interests: Human Molecular Genetics, DNA Forensics

Christine Bendorf

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  • Specialty & Interests: Genetics

Larissa Eiselein

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Alan Ernst

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Patrick Foley

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Christina Strandgaard

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Rob Titus

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  • Specialty & Interests: California Fish & Game Liason

Semarhy Quiñones-Soto

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Cathy Ishikawa

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  • Specialty & Interests: Biology Education, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in STEM Education, Ecology

Brittany Kammerer

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Staff

Anna Lopez

Administrative Support Coordinator II

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Laura Zamora

Administrative Support Coordinator I & Graduate Secretary

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Michael (Squid) Almazan 

Instructional Support Technician II

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  • Specialty & Interests: Organismal Biology/Ecology

Samuel Curtis

Instructional Support Technician II - Vivarium

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  • Specialty & Interests: Organismal Biology & Live Collections

Mikey Davila

Instructional Support Technician II

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  • Specialty & Interests: Anatomy/Physiology

Michael Eisner 

Instructional Support Assitant II - Stockroom

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Caity Fox

Instructional Support Technician II

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  • Specialty & Interests: Cell/Molecular

Daniel Pfarr

Instructional Support Technician II - Greenhouse

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  • Specialty & Interests: Botany

Vacant Vacant

Instructional Support Technician II

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  • Location: TSC 3016
  • Phone: (916) 278-6215
  • Specialty & Interests: Microbiology

Don Thompson

Instructional Support Technician II

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  • Specialty & Interests: Genetics & Microscopy

Douglas Whited

Instructional Support Technician II - Stockroom

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Emeritus

Mike Baad

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  • Specialty & Interests: Plant Taxonomy, Ecology, Biosystematics

William Avery

Professor (Retired)

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  • Specialty & Interests: Community Ecology, Marine Ecology, Invertebrates, and Paleontology

Lee Kavaljian

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  • Specialty & Interests: Botany

Tom Landerholm

Professor (In memoriam)

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  • Specialty & Interests: Cell and Developmental Biology

Nick Ewing

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  • Specialty & Interests: Plant Molecular Biology
Total Members: 56