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Meet The Team

College of Arts and Sciences Biological Sciences Meet The Team

Our Faculty and Staff

The Department of Biological Sciences includes faculty with a wide range of interests in research and teaching and our dedicated and professional staff who manage and administer the department. Our faculty, together with adjunct faculty from other units within SIUE, supervise graduate students on a diverse array of Master's research projects.

Chair

A portrait photo of Dr. Jake Williams
Dr. Jake Williams Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences SW 1165 (618) 650-2118 jasowil@siue.edu Interests: Animal physiology.

Faculty

A portrait photo of Dr. Tom Anderson
Dr. Tom Anderson Assistant Professor, Safety Officer for the Department of Biological Sciences SW 1250 (618) 650-3907 thander@siue.edu Interests: Population and community ecology, species interactions, aquatic ecology.
A portrait photo of Dr. Maurina Aranda
Dr. Maurina Aranda Assistant Professor SW 1190 (618) 650-3468 maarand@siue.edu Interests: Discipline-based education, cellular biology education, and STEM education; K-12 and undergraduate curriculum design.
A portrait photo of Dr. Paul Brunkow
Dr. Paul Brunkow Associate Professor and Undergraduate Committee Chair for the Department of Biological Sciences SW 1220 (618) 650-2976 pbrunko@siue.edu Interests: Amphibian conservation ecology, effects of morphological variability on ecology.
A portrait photo of Dr. Carolyn Butts-Wilmsmeyer
Dr. Carolyn Butts-Wilmsmeyer Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Predictive Analytics SW 1105 (618) 650-2682 cbuttsw@siue.edu Interests: Quantitative genetics and bioinformatics; Biostatistics and predictive modeling; Nutritional improvement of grain crops; Natural resilience in plant production systems.
A portrait photo of Dr. Susanne DiSalvo
Dr. Susanne DiSalvo Graduate Program Director for the Department of Biological Sciences SW 1260 (618) 650-5928 sdisalv@siue.edu Interests: Host-symbiont interactions. Social amoebas as model eukaryotic host systems for bacterial symbionts (Burkholderia, Amoebophilus, and Neochlamydia). Context-dependent shifts on symbiotic outcomes.
A portrait photo of Dr. Betsy Esselman
Dr. Betsy Esselman Professor SW 1230 (618) 650-5719 eesselm@siue.edu Interests: Plant conservation genetics, plant systematics and taxonomy.
A portrait photo of Dr. Rick Essner
Dr. Rick Essner Professor SW 1115 (618) 650-2338 ressner@siue.edu Interests: Ecological and functional morphology.
A portrait photo of Dr. Tom Fowler
Dr. Tom Fowler Associate Professor, TA Coordinator for the Department of Biological Sciences SW 1110 (618) 650-5231 tfowler@siue.edu Interests: Molecular genetics and cell signaling in fungi.
A portrait photo of Dr. Kevin Krajniak
Dr. Kevin Krajniak Professor SW 1290 (618) 650-3467 kkrajni@siue.edu Interests: Physiology, distribution and effects of neuropeptides in freshwater molluscs and arthropods.
A portrait photo of Dr. Danielle N. Lee
Dr. Danielle N. Lee Assistant Professor SW 1240 (618) 650-3405 danilee@siue.edu Interests: Animal Behavior, Urban Ecology, Mammalogy, Science Outreach.
A portrait photo of Dr. Faith Liebl
Dr. Faith Liebl Professor SW 1120 (618) 650-2509 fliebl@siue.edu Interests: Synapse development; expression, trafficking, and localization of glutamate receptors.
A portrait photo of Dr. Zhi-Qing Lin
Dr. Zhi-Qing Lin Professor SW 2165 (618) 650-2650 zhlin@siue.edu Interests: Developing phytoremediation technology for the cleanup of trace element contaminated water and soil, including the use of phytoextraction, phytostabilization, phytovolatilization, and constructed wetland treatment systems.
A portrait photo of Dr. Darron Luesse
Dr. Darron Luesse Professor and Assistant Chair, Department of Biological Sciences SW 1200 (618) 650-2153 dluesse@siue.edu Interests: Molecular processes behind plant gravitropism and other environmental responses, intracellular signal transduction, chlorophyll synthesis, and plant physiology.
A portrait photo of Dr. Vance McCracken
Dr. Vance McCracken Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences SW 1165 or PH 3428 (Box 1608) (618) 650-5246 vmccrac@siue.edu Interests: Gastrointestinal microbiology and mucosal immunology, Helicobacter pylori, enterohepatic Helicobacter species, inflammatory bowel disease, molecular approaches to microbial ecology, testing of novel antimicrobial compounds.
A portrait photo of Dr. Brittany F. Peterson
Dr. Brittany F. Peterson Associate Professor and Acting Director of the Center for Faculty Development and Innovation SW 1180 (618) 650-2453 bripete@siue.edu Interests: Microbiomics, microbial ecology, insect-microbe interactions, symbiosis, complex microbial communities.
A portrait photo of Dr. Emily Petruccelli
Dr. Emily Petruccelli Associate Professor and Webmaster SW 1130 (618) 650-3004 epetruc@siue.edu Interests: Neurogenetics, effects of alcohol on neural transcription and behavior.
A portrait photo of Dr. Bill Retzlaff
Dr. Bill Retzlaff Professor/Interim Vice Chancellor for Administration (VCA) PH 3431 (618) 650-2728 wretzla@siue.edu Interests: Green roof systems.
A portrait photo of Dr. Chris Theodorakis
Dr. Chris Theodorakis Professor SW 2215 (618) 650-5235 ctheodo@siue.edu Interests: Aquatic ecotoxicology, water quality, molecular and genetic toxicology, biomarkers, oxidative stress & DNA damage, nanotoxicology, evolutionary toxicology, endocrine disruption, conservation genetics, molecular ecology.
A portrait photo of Dr. Amy Winn
Dr. Amy Winn Associate Professor SW 1170 (618) 650-3406 ahubert@siue.edu Interests: Molecular biology of stem cells and regeneration in planarian flatworms.
A portrait photo of Dr. Tricia Altmansberger
Dr. Tricia Altmansberger Instructor SW 1125 (618) 650-5239 traltma@siue.edu Courses Taught: BIOL111 and BIOL140
A portrait photo of Katie Durbin, MS
Katie Durbin, MS Instructor, Lab Coordinator SW 0175 (618) 650-3942 cadurbi@siue.edu Courses Taught: Introduction to Biological Sciences I (BIOL 150), Introduction to Biological Sciences II (BIOL 151)
A portrait photo of Dr. James Enyart, DC, MS
Dr. James Enyart, DC, MS Instructor SW 1285 (618) 650-2307 jenyart@siue.edu Courses Taught: BIOL140, BIOL 240ab, BIOL205, BIOL440
A portrait photo of Bethany Kassebaum, MS, MA
Bethany Kassebaum, MS, MA Instructor SW 1295 (618) 650-3902 bkasseb@siue.edu Courses Taught: Contemporary Biology (BIOL 111), Human Biology (BIOL 140), Anatomy & Physiology (BIOL 240a, 240b)
A portrait photo of Chrissy Simmons, MS
Chrissy Simmons, MS Instructor, Lab Coordinator SW 1205 (618) 650-2508 chsimmo@siue.edu Courses Taught: Contemporary Biology (BIOL 111), Human Biology (BIOL 140), Introduction to Biological Sciences I (BIOL 150), Introduction to Biological Sciences II (BIOL 151)
A portrait photo of Jessica Wright, MS
Jessica Wright, MS Instructor, Lab Coordinator SW 0170 (618) 650-5068 jchoudh@siue.edu Courses Taught: Human Anatomy and Physiology (BIOL 240a,b)
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Dr. Chaya Gopalan School of Nursing, School of Education, Health and Human Behavior VC 2612 (618) 650-5802 cgopala@siue.edu Interests: Sex differentiation of the brain, educational research.
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Dr. Guim Kwon School of Pharmacy U2 0220 (618) 650-5150 gkwon@siue.edu
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Dr. Barb McCracken School of Dental Medicine AL 285 (618) 474-7208 bmccrac@siue.edu Interests: Smoking/electronic cigarettes and oral inflammation
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Dr. Joseph Schober School of Pharmacy UP 1009 (618) 650-5129 joschob@siue.edu Interests: Cancer cell motility, microtubule and actin signaling, microtubule plus-end proteins.
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Dr. Cinnamon VanPutte School of Dental Medicine AL 286 (618) 474-7030 cvanput@siue.edu Interests: Thyroid hormone physiology, Microbiome, Periodontal disease
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Dr. Kyong Sup Yoon Department of Environmental Sciences SW 2180 (618) 650-3302 kyoon@siue.edu Interests: Environmental toxicology and vector biology

Emeritus and Retired Faculty

A portrait photo of Dr. Luci Kohn
Dr. Luci Kohn Professor Emeritus SW 1210 (618) 650-2394 lkohn@siue.edu Interests: Quantitative morphology; genetic and environmental influences on skeletal and dental morphology; evolution of morphology.
A portrait photo of Dr. Kelly Barry
Dr. Kelly Barry kbarry@siue.edu
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Dr. Richard Keating rkeatin@siue.edu
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Dr. Dennis Kitz dkitz@siue.edu
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Dr. Steven McCommas smccomm@siue.edu
A portrait photo of Dr. Peter Minchin
Dr. Peter Minchin Professor Emeritus pminchi@siue.edu
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Dr. Nancy Parker njrparker@sbcglobal.net
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Dr. Paul Wanda pwanda@siue.edu
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Dr. Christina (Wilson) Broderson weft00@gmail.com
A portrait photo of Dr. Kurt Schulz
Dr. Kurt Schulz Professor Emeritus kschulz@siue.edu Interests: Forest canopy-understory interactions, ecological restoration, invasive species.

Staff

A portrait photo of Joy Achieng
Joy Achieng Accounting Associate SW 1305, Box 1651 618-650-2642 jachien@siue.edu 60% Biological Sciences, 40% Chemistry
A portrait photo of Jon Clark
Jon Clark Laboratory Manager SW 1175, Box1651 (618) 650-3929 jclark@siue.edu Biological Sciences
A portrait photo of Roxana Jones
Roxana Jones Office Manager SW 1160, Box 1651 (618) 650-3928 roxjone@siue.edu Biological Sciences
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