Faculty in the Saint Louis University Department of Biology are active in research and conduct studies in diverse subdisciplines within biology including cell biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, genomics, molecular biology, neuroscience, pedagogical studies and physiology.
To carry out the SLU department's mission, our faculty consists of teaching faculty, whose primary responsibilities are teaching and service; and research faculty, whose responsibilities include conducting research and mentoring graduate students, in addition to teaching and service.
Departmental Faculty Leadership
Laurie Shornick, Ph.D.
Department Chair
Lindzy Dodson, Ph.D.
Associate Chair
Robert Wood, Ph.D.
Coordinator for Graduate Studies
(Frequently Asked Questions about Biology Graduate Programs)
Julie Thole, Ph.D.
Coordinator for Undergraduate Studies
Ashley Milam, Ph.D.
Coordinator for Undergraduate Research
Teaching Faculty
- Betsy Angeli, M.S.
- Alaina Baker-Nigh, Ph.D.
- Lindzy Dodson, Ph.D.
- Benjamin England, Ed.D.
- Eva Gonzales, Ph.D.
- Maximilian Lyon, Ph.D.
- Ashley Milam, Ph.D.
- Laurie Russell, Ph.D.
- Julie Thole, Ph.D.
- Alice Tipton, Ph.D.
Research Faculty
- Stephen Blake, Ph.D.
- Elena Bray Speth, Ph.D.
- Brian Downes, Ph.D.
- Jonathan Fisher, Ph.D.
- Kasey Fowler-Finn, Ph.D.
- Laibin Huang, Ph.D.
- Blythe Janowiak, Ph.D.
- Jason Knouft, Ph.D.
- Laurence Lemaire, Ph.D.
- Zhenguo Lin, Ph.D.
- Haijun Liu, Ph.D.
- Allison Miller, Ph.D.
- Judith Ogilvie, Ph.D.
- Sofia Origanti, Ph.D.
- Cristy Portales-Reyes, Ph.D.
- Mohini Sengupta, Ph.D.
- Laurie Shornick, Ph.D.
- Susan Spencer, Ph.D.
- Thomas Valone, Ph.D.
- Yuqi Wang, Ph.D.
- Daniel Warren, Ph.D.
- Robert Wood, Ph.D.
- Wenyan Xiao, Ph.D.
- Fenglian Xu, Ph.D.
- Dapeng Zhang, Ph.D.
Emeritus Faculty
- Robert D. Aldridge, Ph.D.
- Joe Leverich, Ph.D.
- John Kennell, Ph.D.
- Richard Mayden, Ph.D.
- John Severson, Ph.D.
- William S. Stark, Ph.D.
Retired Faculty
- Jan Barber, Ph.D.
Affiliated Faculty
- Cheryl Asa, Ph.D., St. Louis Zoo; reproductive biology, ecology and conservation of reptiles
- Kristine Callis-Duehl, Ph.D., Donald Danforth Plant Center
- Thomas Croat, Ph.D., Missouri Botanical Garden; systematics of the Araceae
- Anthony Dell, Ph.D., National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, Dell Ecology Lab
- Peter Goldblatt, Ph.D., Missouri Botanical Garden; systematics, karyology and breeding systems of African Iridaceae
- Charles Hoessle, Ph.D., St. Louis Zoo Director Emeritus; animal conservation, zoo biology and education
- Peter Hoch, Ph.D., Missouri Botanical Garden; systematics and evolution of North American species of Onagraceae
- Kevin Kayset, Ph.D., Sigma-Aldrich; microbiology, enzyme thermostability, thermophilic expression systems
- Peter Kevan, Ph.D., pollination biology
- Sandra Leal, Ph.D., Harris-Stowe State University, Drosophila eye development.
- Carmel Martin-Fairey, Ph.D., Harris-Stowe State University
- Peter Raven, Ph.D., President Emeritus, Missouri Botanical Garden; biogeography of seed plants; coevolution of plants and animals; plant systematics
Faculty Resources
Employee/Employment Forms
- Biology paper time sheet (PDF)
- Undergraduate teaching assistant application (PDF)
- Biology student worker hiring request form (PDF)