Biological and Environmental Sciences

Biology Office

SB 220
Dept Secretary
Lisa Taylor
203-837-8791 or by e-mail.

Bio Office Hours: 8:30-4:30 Mon-Thur (closed Fridays)

Biology Chairperson

SB 243
Dr. Patrice Boily
203-837-8569 or by e-mail.

See Dr. Boily’s Office Hours

Welcome to the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences

We are a community of scholars and teachers and students committed to learn, research, and collaborate across a spectrum of disciplines in the life sciences.

Our undergraduate and graduate students go on to careers ranging from teaching, biotech, medicine, and environmental conservation, to name a few. Become a part of our exciting program.

Announcements

Biology Club is welcoming new members. For details, check out the club webpage or contact its adviser, Dr. Ed Wong.

Herpetology Club is welcoming new members. For details, check out the club webpage or contact its adviser, Dr. Theodora Pinou.

Social Media

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Graduation 2020

A Virtual Celebration of our 2020 Biology Graduates

Watch the video

Upcoming Events

Department Seminar Series

We are excited to share our Fall 2020 lineup of speakers for our dept. seminars! Stay tuned for details…and if you’re interested in being added to our email list about upcoming seminars, please email Lisa Taylor at taylorl@wcsu.edu. (posted 6-10-20)

Claire Rutledge, PhD, from the CT Agricultural Experiment Station, will be presenting a seminar entitled, “Biological control of the emerald ash borer in Connecticut” on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 4:00pm in SB 125. Refreshments and meet the speaker at 5:00pm. Free and open to the public. (posted 02-05-20)

Learn about Americorps. Presentation by WCSU alum Michelle Bissett (Biology ’17) on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7:45pm in SB218. More info here.

Biology club meets Feb. 10, Mar 9, and Apr 13 at 3:30pm in SB208. More

Herpetology club meets Feb. 10, Mar 9, and Apr 13 at 3:30pm in SB208. More.

Department News

WCSU Biology in our community: Check out this recent Wilton Bulletin article about summer work restoring riverweed being conducted by Dr. Tom Philbrick and MS Student Kelly Nealon. This project is being conducted in partnership with the Mianus Chapter of Trout Unlimited. (posted 6-10-20)

Congratulations to Dr. Neeta Connally for being awarded the CSU Board of Regents Faculty Research Award for WCSU AND ALSO the CSU Board of Regents System-Wide Research Award! Learn more about Dr. Connally’s tickborne disease ecology and prevention research here. (posted 6-2-20)

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF)

Congratulations to our 2020 SURF students, Emily Hoegler and JD Hannon! Emily plans to work with Dr. Cordeira to investigate how the neurotransmitter dopamine is involved in exercise and food intake in mice which has important implications for human health and disease. JD will be working with Dr. Monette to examine the impacts of multiple environmental stressors such as temperature and salinity on gene expression in the gills of Atlantic killifish, which has important implications for the impacts of climate change on the distribution and abundance of estuarine fishes. JD also received a CT Sea Grant Undergraduate Research Fellowship for this work. Way to go! (posted 5-11-20, updated 6-10-20)

NEW MS in Integrative Biological Diversity Program
Learn more about our new Master’s degree program here.

Older News Items

Recent Faculty and Student Publications and Presentations

Dr. Neeta Connally presented her research about integrated backyard tick management at the New Tick Threats and Control Tactics national webinar hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency Center for Integrated Pest Management, in February 2020. (posted 5-11-20)

Dr. Theodora Pinou co-authored “Spatial distribution of epibionts on olive ridley sea turtles at Playa Ostional, Costa Rica” in PLoS ONE 14(9): e0218838. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218838. (posted 5-11-20)

Dr. Thomas Philbrick co-authored “Plastid Genomes of Five Species of Riverweeds (Podostemaceae): Structural Organization and Comparative Analysis in Malpighiales” in Frontiers in Plant Science 10. Article 1035. DOI 0.3389/fpls.2019.01035. (posted 5-11-20)

Dr. Theodora Pinou led a symposium, “Exemplary Practices in Herpetological Education” at the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in July, 2020. (posted 08-25-19)

Jenny Kry (Biology ’18) and her faculty advisor, Dr. Joshua Cordeira, have published an article, “Binge-eating Behavior in Socially Isolated Female Mice” in the Journal of Young Investigators (JYI), based on her Advanced Sr. Research project. (posted 12-06-18)