Ecology and Evolution is an interdisciplinary research area focusing on principles that are essential for understanding the response of natural systems to human impacts on the environment.

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology focuses on a wide range of basic and applied questions, such as:

• community populations and ecosystems
• theoretical modeling
• molecular biology and biochemistry
• GIS and remote sensing technologies

In the 21st century some of the world’s most pressing issues are environmental. Global warming, acid rain, water resources, chemical pollution, invasive species, biodiversity and emerging diseases are a few of the environmental issues that students from our program will be prepared to address.

Ecology and Evolution brings together faculty and students from a number of departments in the School of Science, as well as from the Schools of Engineering and Humanities and Social Sciences at Rensselaer.

Additional resources for students include research and educational opportunities (including summer internships) at Rensselaer’s Darrin Fresh Water Institute (DFWI) located on Lake George, in the Adirondacks. The DFWI conducts a diverse array of programs in freshwater biology, environmental sciences and related disciplines, and has numerous collaborations (e.g. Department of Environmental Conservation, Nature Conservancy, United States Geological Survey, and other Universities).

Research strengths include: freshwater ecology, molecular microbiology, physiology and biochemistry of waterborne pathogens, invasive species, remote sensing, and water-resource management.

Biology

Blanca Barquera

Donna Bedard

Charles Boylen*

Brad Lister

Sandra Nierzwicki-Bauer*

* Also works with DFWI

Chemistry & Chemical Biology

Gerald Korenowski

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Chip Kilduff

Sim Komisar

Marianne Nyman

Earth & Environmental Sciences

Jun Abrajano

Richard Bopp

Economics

John Gowdy

Electrical, Computer & Systems Engineering

Art Sanderson

Mathematical Sciences

Donald Drew