Department of Biology

The Department of Biology offers programs leading to the Master of Science degree in Biology or Marine Biology. Either program may be undertaken as a research or library thesis course of study. Students interested in a research career or continued graduate education may elect a program culminating in a research thesis. Educators and others interested in broadening their backgrounds in biology, but not in laboratory or field research, should elect a program of study culminating in a library thesis. The Department of Biology offers a Ph.D. program in Integrative Biology which consists of advanced course work and a substantial research project culminating in a dissertation.

UMass Dartmouth’s proximity to a variety of coastal habitats provides a special emphasis in both faculty research and course offerings on the estuaries and near-shore environments of the Buzzards Bay region of the Massachusetts coast. The University is within a one-hour drive of the major libraries, museums, and academic and research institutions of the Boston and Woods Hole areas. The Department houses several teaching and research laboratories that are equipped for most standard physiological, molecular, and ecological analyses. The Department also maintains museum collections of fishes and invertebrates, seaweeds, diatoms, and the terrestrial plants of the southeastern Massachusetts region. The university library subscribes to many marine biological journals and supports state-of-the-art literature search engines.

Recent graduate student projects have been in fields such as molecular ecology, plankton ecology, harmful algal blooms, environmental microbiology, gene transcription, aquaculture, marine mammal biology, marine bioinvasions, biofouling, parasites of marine fishes, diatom morphometrics, and fisheries biology. Some projects have involved collaborative research with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the UMass Cranberry Experiment Station, and the Mystic and New England Aquariums.

Graduate students plan their course of study with the assistance of their thesis committee, and are urged to complete most of their course requirements during their first year.

Faculty and Fields of Interest

Diego Bernal, BS 1995 Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, MS 2000, PhD 2002 University of California San Diego, Physiology of High Performance Fishes, Shark Biology

Erin Bromage, BSc 1996, BSc 1997 James Cook University, Post-Doc Fellow 2002 VA Institute of Marine Science, PhD 2004 James Cook University, Immunology, Microbiology, Biosensor and Vaccine Development

Richard C Connor (emeritus), BA 1982 University of California at Santa Cruz, PhD 1990 University of Michigan, Evolution of Social Interactions, Marine Mammal Biology

Sarah Donelan, BA Wesleyan University, PhD Northeastern University, Marine Ecology, Predation Risk, Transgenerational Plasticity

Robert E Drew, BS 1994 Purdue University, MS 1997, PhD 2006 Washington State University, Genomic Analysis of Quantitative Traits

Robert Gegear, BSc 1992 and MSc 1995 Western University, Canada, BC 1998 Vancouver Community College, Canada, PhD 2002 Western University, Canada, Conservation Biology, Neuroecology, Pollinator-Plan Interactions

Robert Griffith (emeritus), Marine Vertebrate Physiology, Origin of Vertebrates

Whitney E Hable (emeritus), Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Kathryn D Kavanagh, PhD 1998 James Cook University, Evolutionary and Ecological Development Biology

Genevieve Kozak, BS 2004 Cornell University, PhD 2010 University of Wisconsin, Genomics of Speciation, Evolutionary Biology

Pia Moisander (Graduate Program Director), MS 1996 University of Helsinki, PhD 2002 University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Marine Microbiology, Phytoplankton Physiological Ecology, Marine Biofouling

Nancy J O’Connor (emeritus), BS 1980 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MS 1982 University of Deleware, PhD 1990 North Carolina State University, Invertebrate Biology, Nonindigenous Marine Species

Kenneth Oliveira, BS 1986, MS 1989 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, PhD 1994 University of Rhode Island, Fish Biology, Life History Strategies and Age and Growth of Fishes

Tara K Rajaniemi, BA 1995 Florida State University, PhD 2001 University of Michigan, Plant Community Ecology, Plant Competition and Species Diversity

Michael Sheriff, PhD 2010, University of British Columbia, Predator-prey Interactions, Ecology

Mark Silby (Chairperson), BSC 1993, MSC 1996 PhD 2002 University of Canterbury New Zealand

Jefferson Turner, BS 1969 Guilford College, MA 1972 University of South Florida, PhD 1977 Texas A & M University, Biological Oceanography, Marine Plankton, Biogeography

Katrina Velle, BS 2012 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, PhD 2018 University of Connecticut, Cell Biology, Mechanisms of Motility in Naegleria

Admission Requirements

Applicants for the MS in Biology/Marine Biology and the Ph.D. in Integrative Biology must submit the required application materials to the Graduate Office. In addition, their personal statement must indicate their specific biological interests and goals. Applicants are selected both on the basis of their qualifications and the fit of their research interests with those of the faculty who have openings for graduate students.

Financial Assistance

A limited number of assistantships are available on a competitive basis. Applicants desiring teaching or research assistantships should submit completed applications by March 15th. Other assistance, such as loans or work study, may be available to you. Please refer to the chapter on “Expenses and Financial Assistance.”

Contact

Dr Pia Moisander, Graduate Program Director, Biology/Marine Biology
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
285 Old Westport Road
North Dartmouth, MA 02747-2300
508 999-8222
pmoisander@umassd.edu