Ecological Process and Structures
The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology supports a concentration in Ecology, at both the Masters and Doctorate levels. This program emphasizes many aspects of Ecology in its courses and research activities, including: physiological ecology, population ecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, invasion biology, aquatic ecology, oceanography, paleoecology, landscape ecology, ecotoxicology, and microbial ecology.
Research Activities
The research activities and related publications of the faculty may be found on their home pages. External research funding obtained by the Ecology group includes recent grants from the National Science Foundation, US Geological Survey, Department of Energy, and Department of Defense. Many research activities are interdisciplinary efforts within our research group, with other institutions such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and with collaborators at many institutions.
Facilities and Equipment
Facilities include: Fully equipped laboratories for behavioral observations, aquatic microcosm experiments and genetic analysis. Extensive plant, insect and fish collections are available as are several computer labs. Full facilities for state of the art molecular ecology and microbiology. Full facilities for terrestrial, marine and freshwater field research.
Courses Offered
UT offers a variety of courses in ecology and environmental biology, which include: Basic Concepts in Ecology, Foundations: Readings in Ecology, Ecology for Planners and Engineers, Physiological Ecology of Animals, Ecological Genetics, Plant Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Aquatic Ecology, Comparative Animal Behavior, Insect Taxonomy , Biometry, Mathematical Ecology and Environmental Toxicology, and Microbial Ecology.
Faculty
Faculty are housed in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Botany; Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries; and Geography. The Faculty include:
- Dr. David Buehler, Assistant Professor of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries. Wildlife ecology and management, conservation biology. (dbuehler@utk.edu)
- Dr. Dewey Bunting, Emeritus Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Invertebrate and aquatic ecology, secondary productivity. (dbunting@utk.edu)
- Dr. Joseph Clark, Faculty Associate Professor of Forestry University. Population analysis, habitat evaluation, ecology of large carnivores. (jclark1@utk.edu)
- Dr. Lee Cooper, Research Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Ecological applications of stable isotope methodologies. (lcooper1@utk.edu)
- Dr. James Drake, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Community and theoretical ecology, aquatic ecology, species invasions. (jdrake@utk.edu)
- Dr. Arthur Echternacht, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Evolutionary ecology, herpetology, conservation biology. (echterna@utk.edu)
- Dr. Dave Etnier, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Ichthyology, aquatic entomology, conservation biology. (dipnet@utk.edu)
- Dr. James Fordyce, Assistant Professor of Plantanimal interactions, evolutionary ecology, population and community ecology, chemical ecology. (jfordyce@utk.edu)
- Dr. Jackie Grebmeier, Research Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Benthic carbon cycling, benthic population structure. (jgrebmei@utk.edu)
- Dr. Louis Gross, Professor of Mathematics and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Computational ecology, individual-based models. (gross@tiem.utk.edu)
- Dr. Thomas Hallam, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Mathematical ecology, ecotoxicology. (hallam@tiem.utk.edu)
- Dr. Carol Harden, Associate Professor of Geography. Watershed dynamics, water resources, geomorphology. (charden@utk.edu)
- Dr. Gary McCracken, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Evolutionary ecology, population genetics, conservation biology. (gmccrack@utk.edu)
- Dr. Susan Riechert, Distinguished Service Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Animal behavior and ecology. (sriecher@utk.edu)
- Dr. Nathan Sanders, Assistant Professor. Behavioral ecology, community ecology, invasion biology, macroecology, plant-insect interactions, conservation biology. His research uses a combination of experimental and descriptive approaches to pursue these interests.(nsanders@utk.edu)
- Dr. Wilfred Post, Adjunct Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Global carbon cycling, mutualism, ecological theory. (wmp@ornl.gov)
- Dr. Gary Sayler, Professor of Microbiology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Microbial ecology, microbiology, and environmental toxicology. (sayler@utk.edu)
- Dr. Daniel Simberloff, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Nancy Gore Hunger Chair of Excellence in Environmental Studies. Conservation, biogeography, community ecology and envasion biology. (dsimberloff@utk.edu)
- Dr. Jake Weltzin, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Plant ecology, global change, population, community and ecosystem ecology, invasion biology, ecophysiology. (jweltzin@utk.edu)
- Dr. Steve Wilhelm, Assistant Professor of Microbiology. Microbial interactions of aquatic ecosystems. (wilhelm@utk.edu)
Students
The average number of students in the program is 20, with most being enrolled in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The student group is highly multidisciplinary with interests ranging from aquatic community analysis to invasion biology. 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 chemistry, biology, ecology, statistics and math 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.