Faculty

Filter:
Photo Name Faculty Positions Primary Appointment Research Category Research Interest Contact
Susan Alberts
Alberts, Susan
Robert F. Durden Distinguished Professor
Biology
Behavioral Ecology

I study the links between life history, ecology, quantitative genetics, and behavior. I am particularly interested in how an animal's social environment both provides opportunities and imposes costs, particularly in the context of ecological challenges.

Baker, Paul
Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Our research seeks to understand climate change on time-scales from decades to millions of years. We are interested in what forces natural climate variability, how past climates have influenced the ecology and diversity of organisms in the tropics, and how climate change and other human activities will affect the eventual fate of these organisms.

Bernhardt, Emily
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor
Biology
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Watershed Biogeochemistry, Aquatic Ecosystem Ecology and Freshwater Science

Cassar, Nicolas
Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Our research focuses on biogeochemistry and ecophysiology, with the objective of constraining the mechanisms governing carbon, oxygen and nitrogen cycling, and climate.

Christensen, Norm
Professor Emeritus
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Community Ecology

Our research focuses on the effects of disturbance on structure and function of populations, communities and ecosystems. Ongoing studies include an analysis of patterns of forest development following cropland abandonment as these are affected by environment, stand history and plant demographic patterns.

Clark, James S.
Nicholas Distinguished Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Community Ecology

Research in the Clark lab focuses on biodiversity and global change, including how species coexist and how they are influenced by changing climate and natural and human disturbance. Studies range in scale from field plots to continental data sets.

David, Lawrence
Associate Professor
Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

We study interactions between nutrition and gut microbial communities in humans.

Donohue, Kathleen
Professor
Biology
Evolutionary Ecology

We investigate the genetic basis of adaptation, including the evolution of phenotypic plasticity and maternal effects, the adaptive value of epigenetic modifications, and other forms of genotype-environment interaction.

Doyle, Martin
Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Our research focuses on the science and policy of rivers and water in the US. Our work ranges from fluid mechanics and sediment transport to infrastructure finance and federal water policy.

Drea, Christine
Professor
Evolutionary Anthropology
Behavioral Ecology

Integrative study of the evolution, function, development, and mechanisms of mammalian social behavior, focused on female-dominant species.

Emanuel, Ryan E.
Associate Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Ecohydrology, Ecosystem Ecology, Environmental Justice

Gibert, Jean Philippe
Assistant Professor
Biology
Community Ecology

I study how phenotypic traits determine the structure and dynamics of food webs as well as how changes in environmental conditions mediate these processes using a mixture of theory and data.

Gunsch, Claudia
Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Community Ecology

Our research focuses on characterizing and engineering environmental microbiomes. We apply fundamental concepts from the fields of microbiology, genomics and bioinformatics to environmental engineering applications.

Halpin, Patrick
Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Marine Science And Conservation)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Our research focuses on marine geospatial analysis, ecological applications of geographic information systems and remote sensing; and marine conservation and ecosystem-based management.

Heffernan, Jim
Associate Professor of Ecosystem Ecology and Ecohydrology
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

I study wetlands, streams and rivers, and how they shape and are shaped by biotic, geophysical, and social processes.

Hunt, Dana
Associate Professor of Microbial Ecology
Nicholas School of the Environment (Marine Science And Conservation)
Community Ecology

I study microbial community and population responses to anthropogenic environmental alterations including climate change and contaminants.

Zakary Johnson
Johnson, Zackary
Associate Professor of Biological Oceanography and Marine Biotechnology
Nicholas School of the Environment (Marine Science And Conservation)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

The Johnson Lab broadly studies the abundance, diversity and activity of marine microbes. We are biological oceanographers, marine molecular ecologists, marine microbiologists and biogeochemists. Our research focuses on the marine cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus, the most abundant phytoplankton in the open oceans.

Johnston, David W.
Professor of the Practice of Marine Conservation Ecology
Nicholas School of the Environment (Marine Science And Conservation)
Behavioral Ecology

Johnston’s research program currently focuses on advancing robotic applications, platforms and sensors for marine biology, ecology, education, and conservation missions.

Gabriel Katul
Katul, Gabriel G.
Distinguished Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

carbon-water relations in the soil-plant-atmosphere system

Lowe, Craig
Assistant Professor
Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Evolutionary Ecology

My lab is interested in understanding the genetics of how vertebrate species adapt to new environments. We are currently focusing on the threespine stickleback fish as a model for vertebrate adaptation, as well as recently evolved traits in humans that have medical relevance.

Morris, Bill
Professor
Biology
Population Ecology

We study responses of the abundances and geographical distributions of species to environmental change, using a demographic approach and focusing on plants, birds, and butterflies.

Douglas Nowacek
Nowacek, Douglas
Randolph K. Repass and Sally-Christine Rodgers University Distinguished Professor of Conservation Technology in Environment and Engineering
Nicholas School of the Environment (Marine Science And Conservation)
Behavioral Ecology

In the Nowacek lab we study the acoustic ecology of marine megavertebrates, including the ways in which animals use sound to explore their environment as well as the impacts of anthropogenic ocean noise on them.

Stephen Nowicki
Nowicki, Steve
Professor
Biology
Behavioral Ecology

Our lab studies animal communication and sexual selection from an integrative perspective using a wide range of behavioral ecological, neuroethological, developmental, genetic, and evolutionary modeling techniques. Birds are our most common study subject, but we've also worked with spiders, shrimp, lobsters, insects, lizards, and primates, including humans.

Charles L. Nunn
Nunn, Charles
Professor
Evolutionary Anthropology
Evolutionary Ecology

Charles Nunn uses evolutionary approaches to understand and improve human and animal health. He and his research group investigate the ecology and evolution of infectious disease, drivers of variation in sleep, and the links between ecology, evolution and global health. Charlie conducts fieldwork in Madagascar, and he directs the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM).

Ram Oren
Oren, Ram
Nicholas Distinguished Professor of Earth Systems Science
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Plant, soil and atmosphere control on water uptake and transpiration, and exchange for carbon uptake and growth. Specifically, how feedback between plant hydraulics, and soil and atmospheric conditions, and between crown architecture and light distribution affect stomatal conductance and photosynthesis at scales from branches to forest canopies.

Pimm, Stuart
Doris Duke Distinguished Professor of Conservation Ecology
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Community Ecology

From lions to pandas to birds, we study conservation ecology and biodiversity mapping of tropical regions.

Poulsen, John R.
Associate Professor of Tropical Ecology
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Community Ecology

I study the effects of human disturbance, such as logging, hunting, and agriculture, on ecological processes and the cascading effects for tropical forest communities.

Rausher, Mark D.
John Carlisle Kilgo Distinguished Professor
Biology
Evolutionary Ecology

Our lab studies the genetic changes involved in adaptation and speciation.

Read, Andrew
Stephen A. Toth Distinguished Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Marine Science And Conservation)
Population Ecology

Conservation biology, ecology, behavior, and population biology of marine megavertebrates

Reynolds, James F.
Professor Emeritus
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Global desertification

Richardson, Curtis
Research Professor of Resource Ecology
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Wetlands, carbon sequestration and phosphorus biogeochemistry, ecosystem restoration

Richter, Daniel
Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

My research and teaching link soils with ecosystems and the wider environment, most recently Earth scientists’ Critical Zone. He focuses on how humanity is transforming Earth’s soils from natural to human-natural systems, specifically how land-uses alter soil processes and properties on time scales of decades, centuries, and millennia.

Rittschof, Daniel
Norman L. Christensen Distinguished Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Marine Science And Conservation)
Behavioral Ecology

I am a chemical ecologist and toxicologist. I work on chemicals that organize marine communities, biofouling, toxicity of fouling management coaitngs and plastics and am beginning to work in restoration ecology

Schlesinger, William H.
James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry, Emeritus
Nicholas School of the Environment (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Ecosystems Ecology (including Biogeochemistry)

Global biogeochemical cycles, soil science, desert ecology,

Silliman, Brian
Rachel Carson Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Marine Science And Conservation)
Community Ecology

I use observations of natural communities throughout the world as primary inspiration for my study questions. Most generally, my teaching and research efforts are focused on community ecology of salt marshes and rocky shores, conservation of coastal wetlands and reef fish populations, physical-forcing and disease-mediated control of food web dynamics, plant-animal interactions and evolution of fungal farming behavior.

Swenson, Jennifer J.
Associate Professor of the Practice of Geospatial Analysis
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Community Ecology

I'm interested in understanding spatial and temporal patterns of human-induced change across Earth's land surface, and especially the effects on natural systems/biodiversity. The tools I use are remote sensing and geospatial analysis.

Tung, Jenny
Associate Professor
Evolutionary Anthropology
Behavioral Ecology

The Tung lab focuses on the relationship between behavior and genes, including how behaviors shape population genetic structure and the influence of social behavior on gene regulation. We work primarily in nonhuman primates and other social mammals. Our work intersects with UPE through our interests in behavioral ecology, evolutionary ecology, and ecological genetics.

Urban, Dean L.
Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Community Ecology

I study the causes of landscape heterogeneity and the consequences of this heterogeneity for populations, communities, and ecosystem processes.

Vilgalys, Rytas
Professor
Biology
Evolutionary Ecology

We study the evolutionary genomics of plant-fungal symbiosis and the molecular phylogenetics of fungal diversity.

Wernegreen, Jennifer Jo
Lee Hill Snowdon Associate Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment (Environmental Science & Policy)
Community Ecology

Research in our lab centers on environmental and evolutionary genomics, primarily in bacteria. Broadly, our group explores mechanisms shaping genetic and functional variation in microbes that play important roles in the natural environment.

Willis, John
Professor
Biology
Evolutionary Ecology

We conduct research on questions relating to the evolution of adaptation, reproductive isolation, breeding systems, inbreeding depression, and floral traits in natural plant populations.

Wright, Justin P.
Professor
Biology
Community Ecology

We are a research lab at Duke University exploring the causes and consequences of patterns of biological diversity across the planet. We combine observational and experimental approaches with modelling to develop and test hypotheses and build towards synthetic ecological theory.

Yoder, Anne D.
Braxton Craven Distinguished Professor
Biology
Evolutionary Ecology

My work integrates field inventory activities with molecular phylogenetic techniques and geospatial analysis to investigate Madagascar, an area of the world that is biologically complex, poorly understood, and urgently threatened.