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Faculty of the College of Science carry on active research programs in a wide variety of areas. Students are encouraged to participate actively in research projects, either as an independent student researcher or through the student work program. Some of the current areas of active research include:
CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
- Experimental and theoretical chemistry focusing on design and fabrication of new materials; stabilities of reactive intermediates in chemical reactions; catalysis; understanding the fundamental sources of interactions between molecules; devising new methods and instruments for molecular separations or of recognizing the presence of certain substances at only trace levels.
COMPUTER SCIENCE
- Artificial intelligence; computer graphics; distributed processing; computer networks; databases; software engineering; fuzzy logic; computer education; neural networks; fault-tolerant computing; programming languages; parallel processing; design and analysis of algorithms.
GEOLOGY
- Environmental geology; geomorphology; hydrogeology; applied seismology; potential-field geophysics; environmental geophysics; active tectonics; ore deposits and economic geology; coal and energy resource geology; organic geochemistry; environmental geochemistry; sedimentation and stratigraphy; marine micropaleontology; paleoecology; structural geology; petrology; Pleistocene geology. (Interdisciplinary research with faculty in other departments is also encouraged).
MATHEMATICS
- Abstract algebra; number theory; combinatorics; integral equations; ordinary and partial differential equations; numerical analysis; optimal control theory; probability; statistics; topology and other fields.
MICROBIOLOGY
- Bacterial diversity and evolution; genetics of bacterial and fungal pathogenesis; genetics and regulation of anaerobic growth in bacteria; ecology, physiology and phylogeny of iron-reducing bacteria; physiology and biochemistry of bacteria that digest pollutants; molecular mechanisms of mutation in bacteria; phototrophic bacteria; microbiology of extreme environments; immunodiagnostics; transplantation immunology; immune responses and endocrine disease; regulation and evolution of translation apparatus in bacteria.
PHYSICS
- Smart materials; superconductivity; neutron scattering; synchrotron radiation; magnetism and magnetic materials; interactions of ultrasound with cellular and molecular systems; applied physics; nuclear physics; condensed matter theory; porous media; physisorption; advanced ceramics; atomic physics; computational physics; fluid physics.
PHYSIOLOGY
- Reproductive physiology, endocrinology and neuroendocrinology; seasonal breeding; transgenic animals; neuropharmacology of seizures; germ cell transcription factors; ion transport; acrosome reaction; circadian rhythmicity; mechanism of fever; neuroendocrine effects of drug abuse; insulin action; molecular mechanisms of glucose transport; aging; diabetes mellitus; gut smooth-muscle activity.
PLANT BIOLOGY
- Biodiversity from the earliest life forms to bryophytes of the world, algae of coral reefs and trees of the rain forest; ecological relationships of plants with their environments; statistical analysis and modeling of ecosystems; physiological mechanisms of cold stress tolerance; algae, fungi, and other plants responsible for human intoxications and their production of useful compounds; growth, developmental morphology and molecular systematics of major plant groups.
ZOOLOGY
- Ecology, environmental and conservation biology, biodiversity (vertebrate and invertebrate), wildlife ecology, fish management, aquaculture, animal behavior, herpetology, entomology, parasitology, genetics, molecular systematics, developmental biology, evolution.
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
- An interdepartmental, interdisciplinary program in all the life-science areas mentioned above designed to provide the student with broad rather than in-depth training in any specific biological area. This program utilizes resources from all of the departments in the life sciences. The biological sciences major is appropriate for students interested in pursuing pre-professional education, a teaching career, research technician or scientist training or some facet of environmental science. At the Master's level, students can elect to complete either the thesis or non-thesis option by working closely with faculty in any of the life sciences departments. The thesis option provides the student with a strong basis for pursuing advanced graduate studies.
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