Faculty

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 311
860-685-3493

Chair, Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 311
860-685-3493

Professor, Environmental Studies
860-685-3493

sesultan@wesleyan.edu

BA Princeton University
MA Harvard University
PHD Harvard University

Office Hours:
Mondays 4-5 PM and by appointment.

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

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

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

Assistant Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3197

gaaron@wesleyan.edu

BA Oberlin College
PHD University of Pennsylvania

BIOL245 - 01
Cellular Neurophysiology

BIOL510 - 01
Neurosciences Journal Club II

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

Office Hours:
Thursdays, 1pm - 3pm

Adjunct Associate Professor of Biology
Hall-Atwater Laboratories 101
860-685-3258

Senior Research Associate
Hall-Atwater Laboratories 101
860-685-3258

lappel@wesleyan.edu

AB Oberlin College
MS University of California, Berkeley
PHD University of California, Berkeley

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

Office Hours:
Mondays 11 AM - Noon, Wednesdays 1:10-2:00 PM and by appointment.

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 316
860-685-3489

Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3489

dbodznick@wesleyan.edu

BS University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
PHD University of Washington
MAA Wesleyan University

BIOL249 - 01
Neuroethology

BIOL509 - 01
Neuroscience Journal Club I

BIOL247 - 01
Lab in Neurophysiology

BIOL510 - 01
Neurosciences Journal Club II

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

BIOL235 - 01
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy

BIOL507 - 01
Evolution Journal Club I

BIOL340 - 01
Development and Evolution

BIOL508 - 01
Evolution Journal Club II

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

Office Hours:
Fall 2011: Tu.-Th. 10:30- 11:30 Or by appointment.

Scholarly Keywords:
Development and evolution of vertebrates

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

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

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

Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 305
860-685-2452

Director, College of the Environment
860-685-2452

Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Exley Science Center 427
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

BIOL507 - 01
Evolution Journal Club I

E&ES197 - 01
Intro to Env Studies

E&ES197 - 02
Intro to Env Studies

ENVS391 - 01
Senior Colloquium

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 2012: M 10:00-11:00 and Th 2 :00-4:00 both at the COE  (284 High St.) Rm 201, 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

BIOL173 - 01
Global Change

BIOL507 - 01
Evolution Journal Club I

BIOL508 - 01
Evolution Journal Club II

BIOL557 - 01
Adv Research Seminars in Bio

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

Office Hours:
Spring 2012: Before spring break: by appointment. After spring break: Wednesdays 4-5 in 314 Shanklin (weekly review sessions), Fridays 11-12 in Pi Cafe (weekly group office hour), and by appointment.

Scholarly Keywords:
Evolutionary genetics, speciation, systematics, and biogeography of bacteria.

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

Associate Professor of Biology
Shanklin Laboratory 306
860-685-3461

Associate 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

BIOL182 - 01
Principles of Biology II

BIOL196 - 01
Honors Biology II

BIOL506 - 01
Cell & Develop Journal Club

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

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

Scholarly Keywords:
Muscle Fiber Type Development, Myotome Growth, and Somite Patterning.

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:
TUES. & THURS. 1:00 – 2:00 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
PHD University of California, San Diego
MAA Wesleyan University

BIOL218 - 01
Developmental Biology

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
860-685-2963

rijohnson@wesleyan.edu

BA 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:
Spring 2012: Wednesdays 1:15-3:15pm, 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

Chair, Neuroscience & Behavior Program
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

BIOL351 - 01
Neurobiology Of Learning & Mem

BIOL351 - 02
Neurobiology Of Learning & Mem

BIOL509 - 01
Neuroscience Journal Club I

BIOL224 - 01
Hormones, Brain, and Behavior

BIOL510 - 01
Neurosciences Journal Club II

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

Office Hours:
Spring 2012: T:3-4pm 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

Professor, Neuroscience & Behavior
860-685-3232

jnaegele@wesleyan.edu

BA Mount Holyoke College
PHD Massachusetts Institute of Technology

BIOL509 - 01
Neuroscience Journal Club I

NS&B213 - 01
Behavioral Neurobiology

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

Office Hours:
Spring 2012 Wednesdays 2-5; other times by appointment

Research Interests:
Loss of GABAergic interneurons contributes to the development of spontaneous seizures in severe human temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and in rodent models of TLE. Our research focuses on neural stem cell-based repair of the nervous system damage. Currently we are investigating GABAergic interneuron replacement in temporal lobe epilepsy using two 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 cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating long-term survival and integration of transplanted cells in the adult brain? 2) what are the major differences in neural repair capacity of GABAergic neural progenitors derived from ES cells vs. fetal brain? Our research in collaboration with Gloster Aaron and Laura Grabel utilizes mouse and human embryonic stem cell derived progenitors for transplantation into mouse models of epilepsy and a broad range of vitro and in vivo methodologies.

Scholarly Keywords:
Mouse and human embryonic stem cells; fetal telencephalon neural stem cells, mouse models of epilepsy, electroencephalography (EEG recordings), immunohistochemistry, neurodegeneration, apoptosis

Academic Associations:
International Society for Stem Cell Research Society for Neuroscience AAAS American Epilepsy Society Women in Neuroscience Connecticut SFN chapter American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair

Grants:
Connecticut Stem Cell Initiative

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

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

Editorial Boards:

Epilepsy Currents

Frontiers in Neurogenesis

Brain 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 of Southern California
PHD University of Arizona

BIOL216 - 01
Ecology

BIOL507 - 01
Evolution Journal Club I

BIOL182 - 01
Principles of Biology II

BIOL196 - 01
Honors Biology II

BIOL508 - 01
Evolution Journal Club II

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

Office Hours:
Spring 2012: Mondays and Wednesdays 2-3 PM and 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

MB&B193 - 01
Principles I: Advanced Topics

BIOL265 - 01
Bioinformatics Programming

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
PHD University of California, Berkeley
MAA Wesleyan University

Scholarly Keywords:
Cell Biology, Auophagy, Aging