Research
Biology at Carleton extends far beyond the classroom to laboratories and field stations all over the world.
Our graduate and undergraduate students are extensively engaged in research with faculty members at the university and with researchers outside of Carleton, including collaborations with a number of government institutions such as the National Research Council, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Health Canada, Environment Canada, and Atomic Energy of Canada, as well as the many national museums in the area.
Learn more about the Research facilities at Carleton.
Research Areas
Biochemistry, Physiology and Toxicology
Biology Professors
- Dr. Kyle Biggar – (Functional Proteomics, Protein Methylation, Drug Development, Peptide Biochemistry)
- Dr. Jenny Bruin – (Diabetes, Islet Biology, Toxicology, Stem Cells)
- Dr. James Cheetham – (Membrane Biochemistry)
- Dr. Steven Cooke – (Aquatic Ecology, Conservation Biology, Physiological Ecology, Animal Behavior, Environmental Science)
- Dr. Jeffrey Dawson – (Neuroethology and Biomechanics of Insect Flight)
- Dr. Eugene Fletcher – Industrial Biotechnology, Synthetic Biology, Fermentation, Metabolism, Microbial Physiology and Stress)
- Dr. Ashkan Golshani – (Functional Genomics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Interaction Networks, Systems Biology)
- Dr. Shelley Hepworth – (Plant Molecular Genetics, Developmental Biology)
- Dr. Iain Lambert – Professor Emeritus – (Molecular Biology, Genetic Toxicology)
- Dr. Heath MacMillan – (Integrative and Comparative Animal Ecophysiology)
- Dr. Bruce McKay – (Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Genomics, Cancer Biology)
- Dr. Owen Rowland – (Plant Molecular Biology, Biotechnology)
- Dr. William G. Willmore – (Biochemistry, Biotechnology)
- Dr. Jayne Yack – (Neuroethology, Bioacoustics)
- Dr. Susan Aitken – Affiliated Faculty – (Protein and Pathway Engineering, Enzymology, Amino Acid Metabolism, Pyridoxal Phosphate Biochemistry)
Teaching Stream Faculties
Note: Teaching stream faculties can supervise undergraduate research
- Dr. Iain McKinnell – (Embryology, Developmental Biology, Anatomy & Physiology)
- Dr. Martha Mullally – (Biology Education, Evidence Based Learning)
Adjunct Professors
- Note: Adjuncts are able to co-supervise undergraduate and graduate research
- Dr. Angela Crawley – Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
- Dr. Robert Letcher – Environment Canada – (Xenobiotic Metabolism, Contaminant-protein Interactions)
- Dr. Amanda MacFarlane – Health Canada
- Dr. Azam Tayabali – Health Canada – (Cellular and Physiological Responses to Microbial or Nanomaterial Exposure)
- Dr. Sue Twine – National Research Council Canada – (Biochemistry)
Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
Biology Professors
- Dr. Joseph Bennett – (Conservation Biology, Spatial Biology)
- Dr. Susan Bertram – (Animal Behaviour)
- Dr. Steven Cooke – (Aquatic Ecology, Conservation Biology, Physiological Ecology, Animal Behaviour, Environmental Science)
- Dr. Catherine Cullingham – (Landscape, Population and Conservation Genetics)
- Dr. Roslyn Dakin – (Animal Behaviour)
- Dr. Jeffrey Dawson – (Neuroethology, Biomechanics)
- Dr. Lenore Fahrig – (Landscape Ecology)
- Dr. Root Gorelick – (Evolution of Sex, Evolutionary Theory, Classical Botany, Mathematical Biology, Climate Change)
- Dr. Heath MacMillan – (Animal Physiology)
- Dr. Vivian Nguyen – (Environmental Change, Natural Resources Management, Conservation, Food Security and Wellbeing)
- Dr. Stewart Peck – Professor Emeritus – (Arthropod and Beetle Evolution Systematics)
- Dr. Tom Sherratt – (Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology)
- Dr. Andrew Simons – (Plant Life-History Evolution)
- Dr. Dalal Hanna – (Landscape Ecology, Freshwater Ecology, Conservation)
- Dr. Jayne Yack – (Neuroethology, Bioacoustics, Insects)
Teaching Stream Faculties
Note: Teaching stream faculties can supervise undergraduate research
- Dr. Grégory Bulté – (Natural History, Herpetology)
- Dr. Nigel Waltho – (Community Ecology, Marine Biology)
Adjuncts
Note: Adjuncts are able to co-supervise undergraduate and graduate research
- Dr. John Dettmers – Great Lakes Fishery Commission
- Dr. Charles Francis – National Wildlife Research Centre – (Conservation Ecology, Population Ecology and Modelling, Ornithology, Mammalogy)
- Dr. Danielle Fraser – Canadian Museum of Nature – (Paleoecology, Evolutionary Biology)
- Dr. Grant Gilchrist – National Wildlife Research Centre – (Behavioural Ecology, Arctic Ecology, Avian Ecology)
- Dr. Robert Letcher – National Wildlife Research Centre – (Wildlife Toxicology, Ecotoxicology, Environmental/Ecological Chemistry of Chemical Stressors)
- Dr. Sara Martin – Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
- Dr. Troy McMullin – Canadian Museum of Nature – (Lichen Biogeography – Conservation, Ecology, Systematics and Taxonomy)
- Dr. Natalia Rybczynski – Adjunct Research Professor, Museum of Nature – (Paleobiology Vertebrate Morphology and Evolution)
- Dr. Tyler Smith – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – (Plant Systematics and Conservation)
- Dr. Karen Smokorowski – Fisheries & Oceans Canada – (Aquatic Ecology, Environmental Science)
- Dr. Chantal Vis – (Aquatic Ecology, Conservation Ecology)
Genomics and Bioinformatics
Biology Professors
- Dr. Jenny Bruin – (Diabetes, Islet Biology)
- Dr. James Cheetham – (Membrane Biochemistry)
- Dr. Catherine Cullingham – (Landscape, Population, and Conservation Genetics)
- Dr. Ashkan Golshani – (Functional Genomics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Interaction Networks, Systems Biology)
- Dr. Shelley Hepworth – (Plant Molecular Genetics, Developmental Biology)
- Dr. Iain Lambert – Professor Emeritus – (Molecular Biology, Genetic Toxicology)
- Dr. Heath MacMillan – (Integrative and Comparative Animal Ecophysiology)
- Dr. Bruce McKay– (Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Genomics, Cancer Biology)
- Dr. Nicolas Rodrigue – (Modeling of Molecular Evolution, Phylogenetics, Comparative Genomics)
- Dr. Owen Rowland – (Plant Molecular Biology, Biotechnology)
Teaching Stream Faculties
Note: Teaching stream faculties can supervise undergraduate research
- Dr. Iain McKinnell – (Embryology, Developmental Biology, Anatomy & Physiology)
- Dr. Martha Mullally – (Biology Education, Evidence Based Learning)
Adjunct Professors
Note: Adjuncts are able to co-supervise undergraduate and graduate research
- Dr. Guillaume J. Bilodeau – (Plant Pathology)
- Dr. Francesco Marchetti – Health Canada – (Mutation, Environmental Health, Germ Cells)
- Dr. Sara Martin – Agriculture & AgriFood Canada
- Dr. Bahram Samanfar – Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
- Dr. Azam Tayabali – Health Canada – (Biotechnology, Microbiology, Nanotoxicology, Immunology, Biochemistry)
Molecular Biology and Genetics
Biology Professors
- Dr. Kyle Biggar– (Functional Proteomics, Drug development, Protein Lysine Methylation)
- Dr. Jenny Bruin – (Pancreas Development)
- Dr. Catherine Cullingham – (Landscape, Population, and Conservation Genetics)
- Dr. Eugene Fletcher – (Industrial Biotechnology, Synthetic Biology, Fermentation, Metabolism, Microbial Physiology and Stress)
- Dr. Ashkan Golshani – (Functional Genomics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Interaction Networks, Systems Biology)
- Dr. Root Gorelick – (Evolution of Sex, Evolutionary Theory, Classical Botany, Mathematical Biology, Climate Change)
- Dr. Shelley Hepworth – (Plant Molecular Genetics, Developmental Biology)
- Dr. Iain Lambert – Professor Emeritus – (Molecular Biology, Genetic Toxicology)
- Dr. Heath MacMillan – (Integrative and Comparative Animal Ecophysiology)
- Dr. Bruce McKay – (Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Genomics, Cancer Biology)
- Dr. Owen Rowland – (Plant Molecular Biology, Biotechnology)
- Dr. Myron Smith – (Fungal Molecular Genetics, Antimicrobial Drug Discovery)
- Dr. William G. Willmore – (Biochemistry, Biotechnology)
- Dr. Tim Xing – (Plant Genomics)
- Dr. Susan Aitken – Affiliated Faculty – (Protein and Pathway Engineering, Enzymology, Amino Acid Metabolism, Pyridoxal Phosphate Biochemistry)
Teaching Stream Faculties
Note: Teaching stream faculties can supervise undergraduate research
- Dr. Iain McKinnell – (Embryology, Developmental Biology, Anatomy & Physiology)
- Dr. Martha Mullally – (Biology Education, Evidence Based Learning)
Adjunct Professors
Note: Adjuncts are able to co-supervise undergraduate and graduate research
- Dr. Francesco Marchetti – Health Canada – (Mutation, Environmental Health, Germ Cells)
- Dr. Sara Martin – Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
- Dr. Bahram Samanfar – Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
- Dr. Jean-Sebastien Parent – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – (Plant Molecular Biology, Gene Editing, Epigenetics, Plant Reproduction
- Dr. Rajagopal Subramaniam – Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada – (Fungal Genetics, Plant Disease Resistance)
- Dr. Azam Tayabali – Health Canada – (Biotechnology, Microbiology, Nanotoxicology, Immunology, Biochemistry)
Neurobiology and Behaviour
Biology Professors
- Dr. Susan Bertram – (Animal Behaviour)
- Dr. Steven Cooke – (Aquatic Ecology, Conservation Biology, Physiological Ecology, Animal Behaviour, Environmental Science)
- Dr. Roslyn Dakin – (Animal Behaviour)
- Dr. Jeffrey Dawson – (Neuroethology, Biomechanics of Insect Flight)
- Dr. Tom Sherratt – (Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology)
- Dr. Jayne Yack – (Neuroethology, Bioacoustics)
Data Science
Biology Professors
- Dr. Kyle Biggar – (Machine Learning, Biotechnology)
- Dr. Steven Cooke – (Aquatic Ecology, Conservation Biology, Physiological Ecology, Animal Behaviour, Environmental Science)
- Dr. Lenore Fahrig – (Landscape Ecology)
- Dr. Ashkan Golshani – (Functional Genomics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Interaction Networks, Systems Biology)
- Dr. Iain Lambert – Professor Emeritus – (Molecular Biology, Genetic Toxicology)
- Dr. Bruce McKay – (Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Genomics, Cancer Biology)
- Dr. Owen Rowland – (Plant Molecular Biology, Biotechnology)
- Dr. Tom Sherratt – (Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology)
- Dr. Andrew Simons – (Plant Life- History Evolution)
- Dr. Myron Smith – (Fungal Molecular Genetics, Antimicrobial Drug Discovery)
- Dr. William Willmore – (Biochemistry, Biotechnology)
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