Comparative Animal Behavior
The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology supports a concentration in behavioral ecology, at both the Masters and Doctorate levels. This program emphasizes different aspects of the behavioral sciences in its courses and research activities, including ethology, behavioral genetics, and modeling.
Research activities
The research activities and related publications of the faculty may be found on their home pages. External research funding obtained by the Behavioral Ecology group includes recent grants from the National Science Foundation, the Ohio Division of Wildlife, and the Brookfield Zoological Society Conservation Fund. Many research activities are interdisciplinary efforts within our research group, with other institutions such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and with various research collaborators.
Facilities and Equipment
Facilities include: Various fully-equipped laboratories for genetic analysis, behavioral analysis as well as several computer labs.
Courses Offered
UT offers a variety of courses in behavioral ecology, which include: Foundations: Readings in Behavior, Colloquium in Ethology, Physiological Ecology of Animals, and Advanced Animal Behavior. Usually, one or more seminars on specific topics are offered each semester.
Faculty
Faculty are housed in the Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, and Psychology. The faculty include:
- Dr. Christine Boake, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Inheritance and evolution of behavior, sexual selection, speciation and animal communication. (cboake@utk.edu)
- Dr. Gordon Burghardt, Professor of Psychology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Emphasis on ethology. (gburghar@utk.edu)
- Dr. Arthur Echternacht, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Herpetology, ecology, behavior, conservation biology. (echterna@utk.edu)
- Dr. David Etnier, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evoloutionary Biology Ichthyology, aquatic entomology, conservation biology. (dipnet@utk.edu)
- Dr. James Fordyce, Assistant Professor Plant-animal interactions, evolutionary ecology, population and community ecology, chemical ecology. (jfordyce@utk.edu)
- Dr. Neil Greenberg, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Behavioral ecology, physiological ecology, physiology and behavior. (ngreenbe@utk.edu)
- Dr. Gary McCracken, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Evolutionary ecology, population genetics, conservation biology. (gmccrack@utk.edu)
- Dr. Susan Riechert, Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Community ecology, behavior ecology, and evolutionary game theory. (sriecher@utk.edu)
- Dr. Richard Saudargas, Professor of Psychology Human ethology. (rsaudarg@utk.edu)
Students
The average number of students in the program is approximately 10, enrolled in the Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Psychology. The student group is highly multidisciplinary with interests ranging from behavioral genetics to ethology. Students are usually funded through grants as research assistants or as graduate teaching assistants.
Program Inquiries
The best way to find out about our program is to visit us in Knoxville; we certainly welcome such visits which will allow you to talk to students as well as faculty. When inquiring about the program please tell us about yourself. What biology, ecology, and science courses have you taken? What computer skills do you have? What areas of research are of interest to you? What are your GPA and GRE scores? What do you plan to do after getting your degree? Answers to these questions will enable us to better respond to your inquiries.