J. Antonio Baeza Migueles
Associate Professor
Behavioral and evolutionary biology, molecular phylogenetics and genomics.
Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology
The ecology, evolution and organismal biology section of biological sciences studies all aspects of life, from molecules to organisms to ecosystems.
Research focus areas includes habitat loss in coral reef systems caused by climate change; molecular phylogenetics; diversity of flowering plants and responses to changing environments; ecology of temperate forests; invasive species biology; plant-animal interactions; ecosystem ecology; population and community ecology across environmental gradients; and the relationships between evolution and development including behaviors, the genomic basis of traits and characters, vertebrate musculoskeletal biomechanics and evolution, macroevolution of vertebrate phenotypic diversity, and the role of natural selection in shaping the molecular and morphological diversity we observe in plants and animals.
Facilities supporting this work include the Clemson Experimental Forest, the largest on campus forest in the United States; the Clemson University Bioinformatics and Genomics Facility; the Palmetto Computing Cluster; the Multi-User Analytical Laboratory; the Bob & Betsy Campbell Museum of Natural History; the South Carolina Botanical Garden; and various field stations.
Clemson EEOB faculty have received funding from NSF, NIH, USDA, USFS, and other public and private funding agencies. Our mission is to train students in basic and applied research in ecology, evolution and organismal biology in order to further understand how the earth developed the ecological diversity and adaptations we observe today and how to best conserve it. The Department of Biological Sciences offers EEOB students B.A., B.S., M.S, or Ph.D. degrees.
Faculty
Faculty with an asterisk after their name are currently accepting graduate students in the rotation program.
Kyle Barrett
Interim Department Chair - FEC
Forestry & Environment Conserv
Conservation, urban ecology, wetlands, and wildlife biology.
Sharon Bewick
Assistant Professor
Dynamical systems models applied to everything from disease to community ecology.
Richard Blob*
Alumni Professor
We use biomechanics and paleontology to test how animal muscle and skeleton function have evolved in relation to environmental demands.
Barbara Campbell*
Professor
My lab focuses on the ecology of microbes in the environment: who is there, what they are doing and how they interact with others.
Michael Childress
Associate Professor
We study the impact of climate change and habitat loss on aquatic communities and animal behavior.
Jason Fridley
Professor
We study the ecology of plant communities, including the biology of invasive species and global change processes.
Konstantin Kornev*
Professor
Materials Science&Engineering
We study arthropod biomechanics to reveal the material features enabling arthropods to survive in diverse environment.
Matthew Koski*
Assistant Professor
We study plant evolutionary ecology focusing on factors that shape diversity in flower color and plant reproductive strategies.
Antonino Malacrino*
Adjunct Professor
Incoming Asst. Professor (Jan. 2025). Microbiomes, host-microbiome ecology and evolution, hologenomics, bioinformatics.
Christopher Parkinson
Professor
We use genomics to study the evolution, systematics and phylogenetics of squamates, their venom and certain genes.
Kara E Powder
Assistant Professor
We use evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) and genomic approaches to study craniofacial development and adaptation in cichlid fishes.
Kylie Rock*
Assistant Professor
Reproductive toxicology, placental development and function, One-Health investigations to identify chemical-associated health risks.
Matt Turnbull
Associate Professor
Insect virology. Currently ecology, infection routes, and replication of the sterilizing nudivirus HzNV-2.
Peter Van den Hurk
Associate Professor
Ecotoxicology of environmental pollutants; physiological effects and detoxification pathways.
Karin Van der Burg
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Genetic and physiological mechanisms of fitness optimization in different seasons.
Casey Youngflesh
Assistant Professor
We combine ecological theory with leading-edge quantitative tools to undestand the drivers of biodiversity and population dynamics.
