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Department of Biology

Graduate Research in Biology

The Department of Biology provides expertise in many areas of the biological sciences ranging from the molecular to the ecosystem.  Although individual faculty members differ in their areas of interest, all recognize the constant changes occurring in the understanding of biological processes and the increasingly integrative nature of the sciences.  The Master's degree program at Fresno State seeks to capture the dynamic character of the biological sciences through a combination of courses and a research-based thesis.  Graduate students in the Master's program select a thesis adviser primarily based on common interests.  The thesis, however, represents the unique research interests of each student as guided by the research adviser and thesis committee.

Faculty within the Biology Department address a wide range of questions spanning from the cellular/molecular level to the organismal/ecosystem level. Please contact individual faculty members directly for more information about their research programs and lab availability.

Current Faculty Research Projects

 
Faculty Currently Accepting Graduate Students Number of Openings Project Descriptions
Francine Arroyo Spring 2024, Fall 2024 1 Examing evolutionary trade-ups and trade-offs against antimicrobial resistance. Projects include 1.Characterizing novel phenotypes that impact biofilm, motility and efflux pumps, 2. Isolating bacteriophage and identifying diverse targets of infection, 3. Comparing antibiotic resistance evolution between non-pathogens and pathogens.
Alejandro Calderon-Urrea Spring 2024, Fall 2024 2-3 Our laboratory has developed products based on chalcones and peptides to control plant parasitic nematodes. We received funding from NIH to uncover the molecular mechanisms by which our chalcone products control nematodes. These projects are designed to address the possible mechanism(s) that chalcones use to control nematodes:
1. Complementation tests and two-point mapping of Chalcone 17 and 30 mutations.
2. Chalcone uptake studies in C. elegans.
3. Response of known C. elegans mutants, affecting various pathways, to chalcone 17 and 30.
4. Phenotypic characterization of chalcone resistant mutants.
5. DNA sequence identification of mutant genes using an EMS-Based Deep Sequencing Mapping approach.
6. Metabolomics on chalcone mutants and WT nematodes exposed to Chalcones (project in collaboration with Dr. Krishnan in the Chemistry Department).
Karine Gousset No 0 Not accepting graduate students.
Alexandria Hansen Spring 2024, Fall 2024 1-2 1. Creating and investigating an afterschool program focused on STEM-rich making in partnership with FUSD elementary schools. Research will focus on changes in young children's interest and self-efficacy in STEM. In addition to research, there are opportunities to gain curriculuar design experience. Some funding available for graduate students.,  2. Bio-inspired Design and Bio-making. This project seeks to explore ways that technology and fabrication equipment (i.e., 3D-printing) can be used to enhance life science education acros K-16+. While there is no funding available for this project, access to fabrication equipment will be provided.
Cynthia Hsu Fall 2024 (Tentative) 0-2

Our lab is focused on using Drosophila as a model for understanding the molecular basis of long term changes in behavior, esp sleep and epilepsy. Projects include: 1. The role of sensory stimuli (as a proxy for waking experience) in changing sleep drive, 2. The relative contribution of the ventral nerve cord versus the central brain in sleep, 3. Genetic screens in depression-associated genes to determine if they upregulate or downregulate sleep, 4. Role of glial gap junction coupling in the interplay between feeding and sleep, 5. Genetic screens in epilepsy associated genes.

David Lent Fall 2024 1

1. Studying neurodegenerative diseases in Drosophila melanogaster models, 2. Navigational behaviors of the Western Harvester Ant, 3. Computational modeling of sensory, learning and memory systems in navigating insects.

Alija Mujic TBD TBD

1. Fungal ecology of oaks ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Mountain, 2. Secondary metabolism of antibiotic producing fungi, 3. Edible truffle cultivation in California pecan orchards (pilot studies).

Ulrike Müller TBD TBD

1. Predator-prey interactions in the carnivorous plant bladderwort, 2. Equity and inclusion in academia, case studies in academic publishing, 3. Curating natural history collections.

Larry Riley No 0

Not accepting graduate students.

Joseph Ross Fall 2024 1-2

The overall research goal is to understand how genetic differences between individuals can cause their offspring to be more or less fit than the parents. The lab predominantly uses the microscopic roundworm Caenorhabditis briggsae for this work. Projects tend to involve mating genetically diverse individuals and performing genetic and phenotypic analyses of their offspring to map such incompatible genes. A major focus currently is studying perturbed mitochondrial inheritance. Another aspect of this research involves the effect of climate (temperature) on fitness.

Justin Shaffer Fall 2024 2-3

Our lab is focused on understanding how microbes influence health and sustainability in plant and human hosts. Research projects on plant hosts use both culture-based methods and high-throughput sequencing, whereas projects on human health are driven by analysis of large public datasets. Focus 1: Functional ecology of plant microbiomes in threatened ecosystems. Projects: 1 - Serpentine soils of California. 2 - Mangroves of Central America. Focus 2: Roles of fungi in human health and disease. Projects: 1 - Asthma. 2 - Dermatitis.

Hyunjin Shim Fall 2024 (Tentative) 0-2

Long-read sequencing of metagenomic samples, including microbiomes

Joel Slade No 0

Not accepting graduate students.

Rory Telemeco No 0

Not accepting graduate students.

Brian Tsukimura TBD TBD

Climate change physiology, hormonal regulation of reproduction and invasive species.

Emily Walter Spring 2024, Fall 2024 2-3

Most of our research is done in postsecondary education settings (colleges and universities) and examines impacts of active, student-centered, and creative teaching and learning practices on student success. Our projects frequently prioritize how we can best support historically marginalized people in STEM, including women and people of color. Projects Detailed on Website.

Katherine Waselkov Fall 2024 2-3

Overall research goal: to discover the genetic and phenotypic basis of agricultural weed evolution in the plant group called amaranths. Positions are available: 1. Comparing the physiology of related weedy and non-weedy species of amaranths, 2. Understanding the evolutionary relationships of native Southwestern U.S. and Galapagos amaranth species. 3. Floristics and natural history collection (herbarium) curation. Funding may be available for grad students.

Hwan Youn Fall 2024 1-2

Identification of amino acids critical for the function of cAMP receptor protein (DNA binding and transcriptional activation), a bacterial transcription factor. Main research activities will be: 1. Creating site-directed mutants of the protein where the original amino acids are replaced by non-natural amino acids, 2.  Measuring the activities (DNA binding and transcritpional activation) of the mutants.

Our faculty have collaborated with researchers at a broad array of national and international universities and receive funding a range of federal (e.g., National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency) and state agencies (e.g., California Fish and Game Department, California Agriculture and Technology Institute, California Department of Water Resources ) along with a range of industry groups.

Student completing the M.S. degree are prepared to a diverse array of career opportunities in the biological sciences including continuation to a Ph.D. degree.  Training in the biological sciences provides opportunities in a range of employment sectors including government, industry, and education. Specific employment areas may include laboratory management, quality control, environmental management and conservation, the biotechnology industry, health care research, ecology, agricultural production and inspection, pest control, and marine sciences among others.