Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology

Welcome

Welcome to the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology (EEOB) at Iowa State University.

EEOB has many active research programs and opportunities for student interest in conservation biology, ecological and evolutionary genomics, population, community, and ecosystem ecology, quantitative genetics, and other traditional organismal disciplines such as taxonomy. 

Faculty in EEOB are linked through students and research programs to many other departments within the life sciences, as well as to supporting disciplines in the physical and computational sciences.  The diverse knowledge of the EEOB faculty provides unique opportunities for undergraduate students majoring in Biology, Genetics, and Environmental Science, to whom we offer a rich and cutting-edge curriculum.

If you have any questions about programs or opportunities in EEOB, please contact us at 515-294-0133.  We look forward to serving you.

Going to Extremes

Debinksi Moves Lots of Snow

In places like the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem., Dr. Diane Debinksi has wondered about the effects of snow on the growing season, especially in the context of climate change. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem receives approximately 143 inches of snow each year. In comparison Iowa receives approximately 32.4 inches of snow in a year.

To explore the effects of snow amounts on the growing season, Debinski and her fellow researchers began a pilot project by moving snow in three meadows during 2008. The amazing trick in terms of experimental design is that if one removes all snow from a site in early May, about half of the total precipitation is removed for the season. Debinski tested the soil moisture and plant responses to snow removal and discovered that soil moisture and the plant volumetric water content in late July still showed effects of snow removal in May.

Debinski, and graduate student Jill Sherwood will continue this project, which will link up butterfly response to snow removal in 2010. For more information, contact Dr. Debinski at debinski@iastate.edu.

PhD Karnatz braves extremes temperatures in Plymouth, MN to study painted turtles.

EEOB students and faculty must often go to the extremes to get the research done. In the case of Matthew Karnatz, the freezing temperatures of the Minnesota winter provided challenges to his research on painted turtles.

Braving temperatures below 15 ° F, Karnatz spent hours digging through 2 feet of snow and frozen earth to reach the nests of painted turtles. Covered by the frozen earth, which then melted on contact with his skin, Karnatz was able to retrieve the little turtles, mark their shells with a marker, and prepare them for transport.

News & Updates

Debinski featured on Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture video on Patch-burn Grazing.

Lois Wright Morton, ISU associate professor in sociology leads a research team that is evaluating patch-burn grazing as a management tool in the Grand River Grasslands in southern Iowa. Focuses include: the relationship of the people to the land, the role of insects in grasslands, vegetation and grazers.

Video

"Finding Beauty in a Broken World"

The 6th Annual Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness, and the Creative Imagination will feature readings, poetry perfomances, panel discussions, documentary films, an more.

Website

Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference

MEEC 2010 will be held Friday, March 26 to Sunday, March 28 on the campus of Iowa State University, in Ames, Iowa.  The heart of the conference will be oral presentations and poster presentations contributed by participating undergraduate and graduate students. 

MEEC Website

PhD student, Reding, receives recognition by Biology Letters Editor-in-Chief

Dawn Reding's paper on the evolution of 'creepers' in the honeycreeper radiation highlighted as an excellent example of 'the power of selection".

Full Article

Crumpton interviewed for Iowa Journal

Nancy Crowfoot, of IPTV's Iowa Journal, interviewed Dr. William Crumpton regarding on Iowa water quality performance of restored wetlands.

Press Release

Predators Return to Iowa

Research by Dr. William Clark, in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, on the return of the bobcat can be found in the current issue of Iowa Farm and Ranch.

Full Article

Dr. Jonathan Wendel honored for Outstanding Achievement in Departmental Leadership

The Outstanding Achievement in Departmental Leadership Award recognizes department chairs who have demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities in advancing the faculty, staff, students and programs in their departments.

Full Article