Faculty

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 311
860-685-3493

Chair, Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 311

Professor, Environmental Studies
860-685-3493

sesultan@wesleyan.edu

BA Princeton University
MA Harvard University
PHD Harvard University

BIOL507 - 01
Evolution Journal Club I

BIOL557 - 01
Adv Research Seminars in Bio

BIOL318 - 01
Nature and Nurture

Scholarly Keywords:
Evolutionary ecology of plants
Ecological developmental biology
Evolutionary theory

Lab URL:
http://sultanlab.research.wesleyan.edu/

Associate Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 211
860-685-3197

Associate Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3197

gaaron@wesleyan.edu

BA Oberlin College
PHD University of Pennsylvania

BIOL509 - 01
Neuroscience Journal Club I

NS&B213 - 01
Behavioral Neurobiology

BIOL299 - 01
Waves, Brains, and Music

BIOL510 - 01
Neurosciences Journal Club II

Personal Homepage:
http://gaaron.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:

Tuesdays 1-3pm.  Other meetings are available by appointment

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 316
860-685-3489

Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3489

dbodznick@wesleyan.edu

BS University of Illinois Urbana
MAA Wesleyan University
PHD University of Washington

Personal Homepage:
http://dbodznick.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:
Spring 2012: On sabbatical leave but available at times by appointment

Scholarly Keywords:
Neuroethology, sensory information processing in vertebrate brains.

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 302
860-685-3518

acburke@wesleyan.edu

AB New York University
MA Harvard University
PHD Harvard University

BIOL214 - 01
Evolution

BIOL507 - 01
Evolution Journal Club I

BIOL137 - 01
Writing About Evolution

BIOL508 - 01
Evolution Journal Club II

Personal Homepage:
http://acburke.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:
By appointment.

Scholarly Keywords:
Development and evolution of vertebrates

Lab URL:
http://burkelab.research.wesleyan.edu/

Publications:
http://acburke.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies
Exley Science Center 427
860-685-2452

Professor of Biology
Exley Science Center 327
860-685-2452

Director, College of the Environment
284 High Street
860-685-2452

Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Exley Science Center 327
860-685-2452

Professor, Environmental Studies
860-685-2452

Chair, Environmental Studies Program
860-685-2452

bchernoff@wesleyan.edu

BS SUNY at Stony Brook
MS Adelphi University
PHD University of Michigan

BIOL320 - 01
Quantitative Methods

BIOL507 - 01
Evolution Journal Club I

ENVS391 - 01
Senior Colloquium

ENVS419 - 01
Student Forum

BIOL508 - 01
Evolution Journal Club II

ENVS201 - 01
Research Methods in ENVS

ENVS392 - 01
Senior Colloquium

Personal Homepage:
http://bchernoff.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:

Spring 2013: M 10:00-11:30 in COE (284 High St. 2nd Floor) and Th 2:30-4:00  in Exley Science Tower 331 or by appointment.

Scholarly Keywords:

Ecology, Evolution and biogeography of freshwater fishes; morphological evolution; conservation of aquatic ecosystems.

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 207
860-685-3482

Professor, Environmental Studies
860-685-3482

fcohan@wesleyan.edu

BS Stanford University
PHD Harvard University

BIOL327 - 01
Evolutionary Bioinformatics

BIOL507 - 01
Evolution Journal Club I

BIOL182 - 01
Principles of Biology II

BIOL194 - 01
Biology II: Advanced Topics

Personal Homepage:
http://fcohan.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:

Spring 2013.  Office hours 1:45-2:30 Mondays in 207 Shanklin, and by appointment.

Scholarly Keywords:

Evolutionary genetics, speciation, systematics, and biogeography of bacteria.

Publications:
http://works.bepress.com/frederick_cohan/

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 306
860-685-3461

Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3461

sdevoto@wesleyan.edu

BA Haverford College
PHD Rockefeller University
DU

BIOL343 - 01
Muscle and Nerve Development

BIOL505 - 01
Cell & Devel Journal Club

BIOL218 - 01
Developmental Biology

BIOL506 - 01
Cell & Develop Journal Club

Personal Homepage:
http://sdevoto.web.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:

Spring, 2013: Tuesday 3-4.

This semester I am also holding 3 other hours every week for meeting with groups of students in Biology 182 and 194 (Wednesday 11-12 and 4:15-5:15, and Thursday 4-5).  Please email to schedule other times

Scholarly Keywords:

Muscle Fiber Type Development, Muscle Growth, Somite Patterning, myogenic stem cells, zebrafish

Lab URL:
http://sdevoto.web.wesleyan.edu/

BS SUNY at Stony Brook
PHD University of Iowa

BIOL131 - 01
Service Learning CVH

BIOL223 - 01
Clinical Experience

Personal Homepage:
http://jdonady.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:
Thurs 10-12 PM and by appointment.

Research Interests:
My non-laboratory research interest has shifted to Human Genetics and away from Drosophila Developmental Genetics. Bioethics and Genetic Counseling are areas of immediate attention. Adapting the matrix method of Ben Mepham to human problems suggests an approach to bring conflicting sides of contentious issues around genetic information to find common ground.

Scholarly Keywords:
Transmission genetics ii human
Genetic counseling

Academic Associations:
Genetic Society of America
American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
American Society of Human Genetics
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Lab URL:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/hppi/

Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society
Hall-Atwater Laboratories 209
860-685-3238

Professor of Biology
Hall-Atwater Laboratories 209
860-685-3238

lgrabel@wesleyan.edu

BA Brandeis University
MAA Wesleyan University
PHD University of California, San

BIOL325 - 01
Stem Cells

BIOL505 - 01
Cell & Devel Journal Club

BIOL148 - 01
Biology of Women

BIOL506 - 01
Cell & Develop Journal Club

Personal Homepage:
http://lgrabel.web.wesleyan.edu/Lab%20Homepage/main2.html

Office Hours:
By appointment.

Scholarly Keywords:
Neurogenesis of embryonic stem cells, Hedgehog signaling in angiogenesis, cell-extracellular matrix interactions and cell migration.

Assistant Professor of Biology
Hall-Atwater Laboratories 212
860-685-2963

rijohnson@wesleyan.edu

BS University of Witwatersrand
PHD Cambridge University

BIOL505 - 01
Cell & Devel Journal Club

MB&B181 - 05
Principles of Biology

MB&B181 - 06
Principles of Biology

BIOL212 - 01
Cell Biology Principles

BIOL506 - 01
Cell & Develop Journal Club

Office Hours:

Fall 2012:  Monday and Thursday 11:00-11:50 am, or by appointment, Hall-Atwater 212

Academic Associations:

The American Society of Cell Biology

Genetics Society of America

Lab URL:
http://johnsonlab.research.wesleyan.edu

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 409
860-685-3494

Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3494

jrkirn@wesleyan.edu

BA University of Denver
MA Bucknell University
PHD Cornell University

BIOL254 - 01
Animal Behavior

BIOL254 - 02
Animal Behavior

BIOL509 - 01
Neuroscience Journal Club I

BIOL182 - 01
Principles of Biology II

BIOL194 - 01
Biology II: Advanced Topics

BIOL510 - 01
Neurosciences Journal Club II

Personal Homepage:
http://jrkirn.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:

Spring 2013: M:4-5pm, F:10-11am or by appointment

Research Interests:

I'm interested in how the brain acquires and stores information. I am pursuing these interests by studying song learning and song maintenance in birds, who constantly replace neurons throughout life. Two basic questions of interest are (1) is neuronal replacement related to song learning, and (2) How can the brain preserve information when neurons are constantly being replaced?

Scholarly Keywords:

Animal Behavior, Learning and Memory, Neuroethology, Neuroendocrinology

Grants:

NIH RO1, 2004-09 (P.I.: Kirn; $880,000 Direct Costs) "Avian vocal experience and adult neuron replacement".

Lab URL:
http://jrkirn.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Publications:
http://jrkirn.faculty.wesleyan.edu/selected-publications/

Professor of Biology
Hall-Atwater Laboratories 254
860-685-3232

Director, Center for Faculty Career Development

Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3232

jnaegele@wesleyan.edu

BA Mount Holyoke College
PHD Massachusetts Institute Techno

BIOL250 - 01
Neurobiology Lab

BIOL509 - 01
Neuroscience Journal Club I

BIOL345 - 01
Developmental Neurobiology

BIOL510 - 01
Neurosciences Journal Club II

Personal Homepage:
http://naegelelab.research.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:

SPRING 2013: On Sabbatical; no regularly scheduled office hours. Meetings by appointment only.

Research Interests:

Deficits in GABAergic interneuron populations have been found to underly a number of neuropsychiatric disorders as well as epilepsy. In our research, we study the origins and functions of forebrain interneurons in rodent models of Fragile X syndrome and epilepsy. We are also investigating GABAergic interneuron replacement in temporal lobe epilepsy using different stem cell sources - fetal telencephalon and mouse and human embryonic stem cells. We have discovered that GABAergic progenitor grafts suppress spontaneous seizures for extended periods of time in the rodent brain. We have also demonstrated long-term survival, migration, and integration of ES cell-derived neurons in the adult hippocampus. The questions we are now pursuing are: 1) what are the molecular mechanisms regulating functional integration GABAergic interneuros; 2) what are the major differences in neural repair capacity of GABAergic neural progenitors derived from ES cells vs. fetal brain for treating temporal lobe epilepsy?

Scholarly Keywords:

Neural stem cells, mouse models of epilepsy, electroencephalography (EEG recordings), immunohistochemistry, neurodegeneration, apoptosis, gene expression, synapse formation, adult neurogenesis

Academic Associations:

International Society for Stem Cell Research; Society for Neuroscience; AAAS American Epilepsy Society; American Epilepsy Society

Grants:

Connecticut Stem Cell Initiative

Lab URL:
http://naegelelab.research.wesleyan.edu/

Publications:
http://naegelelab.research.wesleyan.edu/publications/

Editorial Boards:

Epilepsy CurrentsFrontiers in NeurogenesisBrain and Development

Board Memberships:

Epilepsy Foundation of Connecicut

Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology
Hall-Atwater Laboratories
860-685-3391

jpowzyk@wesleyan.edu

BS Principia College
PHD Duke University

BIOL106 - 01
The Biology of Sex

BIOL140 - 01
Classics in Animal Behavior

BIOL140 - 02
Classics in Animal Behavior

BIOL106 - 01
The Biology of Sex

BIOL145 - 01
Primate Behavior

Associate Professor of Biology
Hall-Atwater Laboratories 259
860-685-2548

Associate Professor, Environmental Studies
860-685-2548

msinger@wesleyan.edu

BS University Southern Calif
PHD University of Arizona

BIOL220 - 01
Conservation Biology

BIOL507 - 01
Evolution Journal Club I

Personal Homepage:
http://msinger.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Office Hours:

Spring 2013: Tues 3-4 pm or by appointment

Scholarly Keywords:

Evolution and ecology of tri-trophic interactions involving plants, insect herbivores, and carnivores (research focus), general ecology, conservation biology, biodiversity science, entomology, botany, animal behavior, evolutionary biology

Professor of Biology
Hall-Atwater Laboratories 112
860-685-2402

Director, Hughes Program in the Life Sciences
860-685-2402

mweir@wesleyan.edu

BS University of Sussex
PHD University of Pennsylvania

BIOL505 - 01
Cell & Devel Journal Club

MB&B181 - 03
Principles of Biology

MB&B181 - 04
Principles of Biology

BIOL506 - 01
Cell & Develop Journal Club

Office Hours:
M Th 11.00-12.00 pm 112 HA

Scholarly Keywords:
proteomics; molecular genetics; bioinformatics.

Grants:
National Institutes of Health

Lab URL:
http://weirlab.research.wesleyan.edu/

Publications:
http://weirlab.research.wesleyan.edu/publications/

Professor of Biology, Emeritus

aberlind@wesleyan.edu

BA Swarthmore College
MA Harvard University
PHD Harvard University

Professor of Biology, Emeritus

jwolfe@wesleyan.edu

BA Rutgers U University C Cam
MAA Wesleyan University
PHD University Calif Berkeley

Scholarly Keywords:

Cell Biology, Autophagy, Aging