51²è¹Ýapp

Tropical Ecology My research is in the ecology and species composition of tropical and subtropical forests in both the Paleotropics and Neotropics. In the Brazilian Amazon, I have eight permanent study sites - embracing a total of over 22,000 trees which are regularly monitored - from the foothills...

Professor Cooper is interested in the evolution and ecology of phenotypic variation, particularly the selection pressures that lead to variation between sexes and between species. To study this, she investigates color and behavior of species in two damselfly genera, Megalagrion (an endemic Hawaiian...

Plant Molecular Biology My research focuses on the response of plants to environmental stress at the molecular, biochemical, and physiological levels, utilizing both crop and model plant species. Most of my research centers on non-biological stresses such as exposure to foreign compounds, or...

My students and I try to determine: (1) how natural selection shapes plant reproduction, life history, and physiology; and (2) why plant species occur where they do, rather than somewhere else. A westerner transplanted to Iowa, I seem to be reasonably well adapted to this novel habitat. I attended...

2019 Distinguished Faculty Member Award, Iowa Chapter of the AAUW for work for educational equity for women and underrepresented groups in higher education

Shannon Hinsa-Leasure is a microbiologist and a professor of biology at 51²è¹Ýapp College in Iowa. Her research interests include microbial diversity, antibiotic resistance and genetic exchange, and strategies for bacterial survival. Most recently she began a collaboration with Dr. Lillian...

I am an ecosystem ecologist teaching at 51²è¹Ýapp College, a four-year liberal arts undergraduate institution in Iowa. All faculty in the Biology Department teach the introductory course (Introduction to Biological Inquiry) on subject matter of our choice, as the goal of the course is to expose...

I am a fungal biologist and I teach in the Biology Department at 51²è¹Ýapp College. Faculty members teach BIO 150 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry on subject matter of our choosing, because our course goals are to expose students to learning by doing experimental science. My BIO 150 section is...

The Lafontant lab studies heart repair and regeneration in zebrafish and the giant danio with undergraduate students. In humans and adult mammals, cardiac injuries (heart attacks) result in permanent scarring of the heart muscle. This response to injury may lead to subsequent heart failure. However...

In my laboratory, we study the chemical synapse, a specialized connection where neurons communicate with neighboring cells such as sensory receptors, muscle cells, or other neurons. Our primary goal is to unravel the mechanisms through which the presynaptic cell regulates the release of its...

Developmental Genetics and Cell Biology Directed changes in the shape of epithelial sheets are required to create many of the major tissues in animals, including the intestinal system, kidneys, lungs, and skin. Although our understanding of epithelial sheet morphogenesis has advanced in recent years...

Comparative physiology and functional morphology; exercise physiology & psychology I was originally trained as a comparative physiologist and functional morphologist, but since coming to Iowa, I have become increasingly focused on human exercise. I am interested in how people feel when they exercise...

Plants, like animals, begin life as a single cell, the fertilized egg or zygote. This single cell undergoes growth, cell division and differentiation to produce an embryo, or immature plant. This developmental process is called embryogenesis. Since all cells of the embryo are produced through...

Cell Biology / Developmental Biology I am interested in the formation of sensory structures during neural development in vertebrate embryos. Most of my work with students at 51²è¹Ýapp has focused on lens formation in chicken embryos (a lens from a four day old embryo is shown in Figure 1). We have...

I am broadly interested in all questions regarding decision-making in animal behavior. In particular, I am interested in how information encoded in the environment is gathered, shared, and otherwise used by animals to inform individual decision-making, and consequently how decisions made at the...