Discover ample opportunities to conduct collaborative research with faculty in the biology department.

Research in Your First Biology Class 

All students do research during their first biology class at Lawrence. In Biology 130 – Integrative Biology: Cells to Organisms, you will spend the last five weeks of the term planning and executing a research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

The results of your project will be presented in a symposium at the end of the term. After this introduction to collaborative research, you may work with professors on projects during the academic year and in the summer.

Commitment to Undergraduate Research

We are proud of the culture of undergraduate research at Lawrence. You will benefit greatly from practicing your discipline under the mentorship of faculty and are often transformed by this individualized learning experience. The research-rich atmosphere at Lawrence is one that welcomes unique individuals, nurtures diverse interests, provides personal attention, encourages open discourse and collaboration, values initiative, and celebrates accomplishment. You will have the opportunity to develop your own research projects and are encouraged to report your results in publications and conference presentations.

Collaborative student-faculty research is recognized as a key part of an education in biology and therefore supported by resources from Lawrence University. In addition, faculty have also been successful in procuring funding from external sources including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Merck Foundation, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and others.

Opportunity to share at BioFest

What biology topic are you especially passionate about—dance-based physical therapy, dental abnormalities, fungi soil remediation... or something else we haven't explored yet?  At BioFest you will communicate your research to the Lawrence campus and Appleton community in the format of your choice, such as a research poster, sculpture, website, or podcast. (And it will become part of your post-Lawrence portfolio.)

Lawrence University Marine Program

Interested in marine life? Join Lawrence University's Marine Program and participate in the Biology Marine Term to conduct field studies and design your own research project.

Learn about the Marine Program

Recent and Ongoing Projects (by faculty)

Bart De Stasio

  • Monitoring the presence and effects of invasive species in the Fox River and Lake Winnebago
  • Determining the abundance and effects of toxic algae on the food web in Green Bay
  • Modeling behavior of zooplankton in response to predators, food availability and climate change

Beth De Stasio

  • Characterizing the effects of sup-9 channel mutations on mating behavior and motility in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
  • Understanding changes in gene expression associated with event of early Alzheimer's (synaptic decline)

Kim Dickson

  • Investigating how the protein angiogenin is involved in cancer and blood vessel growth.

Alyssa Hakes

  • Understanding how the spatial location of plants and plant traits influence the level of damage from insect herbivores.
  • Examining how herbivores influence the clonal growth and spatial patterns of plants.

Judith Humphries

  • Studying the gene regulation of immune responses in the snail Biomphalaria glabrata.

Brian Piasecki

  • Identifying and characterizing genes required for the development and functioning of sensory cilia
  • The utility of comparative genomics

Jodi Sedlock

  • Sensory ecology of bats and their insect prey in agricultural landscapes
  • Cave conservation through research and education on Bohol Island, Philippines

Nancy Wall

  • Investigating the role of cytokines in development of mechanosensory systems related to organs of hearing.
  • Serotonin modulation of anxious behavior in zebrafish larvae.
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