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Find what PEEC's your interest.
Are you passionate about ecology and evolutionary biology? Join a lab in PEEC, an interdisciplinary, campus-wide program designed to provide you with individualized training for a successful career in research and teaching. Our program prepares graduate students to become technically skilled scientists with a broad understanding of ecology and evolutionary biology.
ABC Lab
The Alleyne Bioinspiration Collaborative uses arthropods as inspiration for novel multi-functional materials and robotic systems.
Ainsworth Lab
The Ainsworth Lab aims to understand how plants react to climate changes like higher CO2, ozone, heat, and drought, so we can improve crop growth and food production in the future.
Allan Lab
The Allan lab explores the consequences of global change through the lens of transmission of vector-borne diseases and the conservation of wildlife and ecosystems.
Anderson Evolutionary Biomechanics Lab
The Anderson Evolutionary Biomechanics Lab is a team of evolutionary biomechanists and paleontologists investigating the evolution of functional systems through interdisciplinary methods, focusing on the influence of physics on biology over the past billion years.
Andrew Leakey's Laboratory
Andrew Leakey's Laboratory research focuses on improving plant adaptation to environmental changes, especially drought, by studying how plants control water use and using biotechnology to enhance crop efficiency and sustainability.
Atul Jain's Research Group
Atul Jain’s Research Group studies global climate change by developing the Integrated Science Assessment Model (ISAM), which looks at how carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles interact and how things like biofuel production, land use, and greenhouse gases affect the environment.
Bell Lab
The Bell lab studies the proximate and ultimate causes of individual behavioral variation in threespined stickleback fish.
Berenbaum Lab
The Berenbaum lab investigates plant-insect relationships, focusing on chemically mediated interactions, pesticide impacts, invasive species, and human-driven changes to biodiversity and sustainability.
Bried Lab
Bried Lab studies how species and communities respond to environmental changes, focusing on ecological conservatism, wetland plant health, and using dragonflies as indicators of human impact.
Brooke Lab
The Brooke Lab studies how RNA viruses, like the flu, replicate, spread, change, and cause illness, which helps us better understand viral infections and improve vaccines and treatments.
Cáceres Lab
The Cáceres Lab explores how ecological and evolutionary processes shape biodiversity, life-history variation, metacommunity dynamics, and the distribution and abundance of disease across scales from traits to ecosystems.
Catchen Lab
The Catchen Lab investigates how genomes evolve over time, exploring questions about the accumulation of small vs. large genetic changes, the acquisition of functional genes, and the dynamics of non-coding DNA, primarily focusing on teleost fish using novel algorithmic methods.
Chris Chen Lab
The Chen lab explores how polar bony fishes adapt to freezing environments, focusing on the evolution of antifreeze proteins, their genetic mechanisms, and other cold-adaptive traits like retinal and lens proteins, using genomic and molecular analyses.
Cienciala Lab
The Cienciala Lab studies how landscapes and living organisms shape each other over time, focusing on rivers, forests, and mountains in the Pacific Northwest to better understand and restore ecosystems affected by climate change and human activity.
Clancy Lab
The Clancy Lab is a feminist biology research space focused on studying how environmental stress affects women and gender minorities, while promoting justice, diverse perspectives, and mentoring the next generation of researchers.
Conroy Lab
The Conroy Lab studies past, present, and future climate changes using tools like climate records, observations, and models, focusing on things like ocean and atmospheric processes, past climate patterns, and modern wind trends.
Dalling Lab of Tropical Forest Ecology
The Dailling Lab of Tropical Forest Ecology studies tropical rain forests to understand how plants interact with fungi and soil, focusing on how these interactions affect tree growth and forest regeneration, with research conducted in Panama and Illinois.
Dietrich Leafhopper Lab
The Dietrich Leafhopper Lab focuses on documenting the leafhoppers global diversity, reconstructing their evolutionary relationships, creating tools for species identification, assessing their conservation status, and studying their role in spreading plant pathogens.
Dolezal Bee Research Lab
The Dolezal lab studies the impact of environmental stressors on bee physiology and behavior, focusing on honey bees and other pollinators at the landscape, colony, and individual levels.
Doremus Lab
The Doremus Lab studies arthropod-microbe symbioses, with a focus on exploring how microbial symbionts influence host reproduction, ecology, and evolution to inform efforts in controlling pest populations.
Downie Lab
The Downie Lab research focuses on studying the evolution and classification of the Apiaceae plant family, especially the Apioideae subfamily, by analyzing genetic changes in their chloroplast genomes.
Daniel J. Eck
Daniel's research focuses on improving statistical methods for real-world problems, working with scientists from different fields, and writing clear papers that apply to areas like biology, baseball, history, education, and genomics.
Enrique Santoyo-Brito / Herpetology
Enrique Santoyo-Brito focuses on the behavior, ecology, and conservation of reptiles and amphibians, studying topics like lizard sociality, predator avoidance, and the effects of climate change on lizard populations, while also managing biological collections at the Illinois Natural History Survey.
Eric Larson
Eric R. Larson is a professor studying freshwater ecology, focusing on environmental DNA, invasive species like rusty crayfish, and conservation of rare species like Pacifastacus crayfishes.
Evolutionary Immunology and Genomics lab
The Evolutionary Immunology and Genomics lab nvestigates the evolution and ecology of the immune system using a broad range of immunological, genomic, and computational techniques.
The Fraterrigo Lab
The Fraterrigo Lab studies how ecosystems and landscapes respond to environmental change, focusing on vegetation, biodiversity, and nutrient cycles to help improve ecosystem resilience and guide better decision-making.
Fuller Lab
The Fuller Lab studies fish ecology and evolution, focusing on how selection, genetic variation, phenotypic plasticity, and visual systems influence traits like coloration and speciation, using genomic approaches.
The Genomics Research Laboratory
The Genomics Research Laboratory, led by Dr. Alfred L. Roca, focuses on studying the genetic makeup of animals to understand evolution, conservation, and population genetics.
Guan Lab
The Guan Lab uses satellites, fieldwork, and artificial intelligence to study how climate and farming practices affect crops, water, and the environment, with the goal of improving food security and sustainability worldwide.
Hanks Lab
The Hanks lab studies chemical communication in cerambycid and elaterid beetles.
Harmon-Threatt Lab
The Harmon-Threatt Lab explores local and landscape features that impact pollinator diversity to inform bee conservation through behavioral studies and landscape analyses.
Heath Lab
Heath Lab studies the evolution and genetics of plant-microbe symbiosis.
Human-Wildlife Interactions Lab
The Human-Wildlife Interaction Lab studies how wildlife, especially bats, can live alongside humans in altered landscapes, working with various groups to improve bat protection and management.
The Job Lab
The Jog Lab studies wetlands by testing and improving plant-based assessment tools, especially the Floristic Quality Assessment Index, to better understand plant diversity, conservation, and ecosystem health in different regions.
Kent Lab
Kent Lab studies microbial communities in ecosystems to understand their roles in nutrient cycling and environmental functions, aiming to predict the impact of global change and improve environmental quality.
Kukekova Lab
The Kukekova Lab studies how genetic and environmental factors influence social behavior in mammals, using silver foxes to understand the biological mechanisms behind aggression, anxiety, and social behaviors, which could help explain human behavioral disorders.
The Malhi Molecular Anthropology Laboratory
The Malhi Molecular Anthropology Laboratory uses molecular tools to explore questions in the life sciences, social sciences, and humanities, while working with communities and promoting inclusivity in STEM.
Marks Lab
The Marks Lab studies resurrection plants that survive extreme dehydration to understand the mechanisms of desiccation tolerance, its evolutionary roots, and its implications for plants adapting to climate change, while advocating for diversity and global collaboration in science.
MDCI Lab
The MDCI Lab's research aims to improve health by using data analysis and disease modeling to find better ways to prevent and control diseases in a One Health context.
The Matthews Lab
The Matthews Lab research focuses on restoring and protecting wetlands by studying water impacts, invasive plants, seed-based restoration, and policies to improve biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Michael J. Dreslik
Michael's research focuses on how reptiles and amphibians adapt to their environment, their behavior, conservation, and how these traits can help create effective management and conservation strategies.
Miller Ecology and Conservation Lab
The Miller Lab studies how land use, urban growth, and restoration efforts affect plants, birds, and other wildlife, with the goal of protecting biodiversity and improving habitats in the Midwest.
Miller Mycology Lab
The Miller Mycology Lab studies the systematics and biodiversity of fungi, with a focus on wood-inhabiting ascomycetes, using both traditional techniques and modern technology like DNA sequencing and digital imaging.
Milton Tan
Milton Tan studies the diversity and evolution of fishes, using genomics and comparative methods to understand traits like body size, shape, and ecology, and how fishes have diversified over time.
Ngumbi Lab
The Ngumbi Lab studies chemical signals in insect herbivores, natural enemies, plants, and microorganisms to enhance agriculture, pest management, and ecosystem functions, with a focus on microbial solutions, plant-microbe interactions, and the impacts of flooding on plant defenses and soil microbes.
O'Dwyer Lab
The O'Dwyer lab studies how different species interact and change over time in nature by using a mix of theory, experiments, and data to understand ecological communities.
Punyasena Paleoecology Lab
Punyasena Paleoecology Lab studies how climate affects plant communities in the lowland Neotropics by analyzing fossil pollen to understand long-term plant changes, and we are developing new tools like advanced microscopy and machine learning to improve research in this area.
The Rhodes Lab
The Rhodes Lab explores how genes, diet, exercise, drugs, and social environment affect the brain and behavior, using mice and fish to uncover connections between lifestyle, brain function, and parental care.
Roach Brain Lab
The Roach Brain Lab studies the biodiversity and evolution of tropical insects, with a focus on cockroach systematics, morphology, and ecology, while training scientists in molecular techniques, bioinformatics and science communication.
Robinson Lab
The Robinson Lab studies the mechanisms and evolution of honey bee social behavior, focusing on behavioral, neurochemical, and genomic analysis, with applications to both bees and humans.
Schroeder Lab
The Schroeder Lab uses microscopes to study how tiny soil worms called nematodes change with their environment and evolution, while also helping identify different species in farms and natural areas.
Solis Lab
The Soils Lab studies how human activities affect soil services, focusing on topics like phosphorus management, coffee ecosystems, soil enzymes, metal contaminants, and new technology in soil science.
Sperry Lab
The Sperry lab studies how animals interact with each other and their environment, focusing on things like competition, helpful relationships, and the impact of invasive species, while also looking at animal behavior, communication, and movement.
Sport Fish Ecology Lab (SFEL)
The Sport Fish Ecology Lab studies how fishing and human activities affect the behavior, reproduction, and survival of sport fish like bass, bluegill, trout, gars, and bonefish, with the goal of supporting conservation and sustainable fisheries.
Stumpf Laboratory
Stumpf Laboratory's research is focused on field comparative biology and comparative microbial ecology from a One Health perspective, pathogen and AMR transmission, behavioral ecology, reproductive biology, and human health
Suarez Lab
The Suarez Lab studies ant social organization and developmental plasticity to explore ecology, evolution, and behavior, focusing on how morphological variation in worker ants affects ecology and performance.
Suski Lab
The Suski Lab's research focuses on understanding how ecological and physiological factors affect the abundance and distribution of freshwater organisms, using fishes to develop new conservation strategies for freshwater ecosystems.
Tandy Warnow
Tandy Warnow's research focuses on developing algorithms for computational biology to improve accuracy and scalability, with work in areas like phylogenomics, machine learning, network science, and historical linguistics.
Van Doren Lab
The Van Doren Lab studies how migrating animals are affected by human impacts and environmental change, using fieldwork, lab studies, and computer models to guide conservation and policy.
Varga Lab
Varga Lab's mission is to improve the health of people, animals, and the environment through scientific inquiry that identifies the causes of health disparities across time and locations.
Ward Lab
Ward Lab studies how birds choose habitats, their populations, and behaviors in different regions to help improve conservation efforts.
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group
The Wildlife Ecology and Conservation group studies how birds behave and live in their environments, focusing on species that need conservation, and we work with other researchers and agencies to understand things like habitat use, reproduction, migration, and population changes.
Whitaker Lab
The Whitaker Lab studies the dynamics of microbes and their viruses using a combination of genomics, experimental evolution, modeling, and molecular biology.
Yang Lab
The Yang Lab studies how human activities affect ecosystems, focusing on chemical changes in the environment, greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen cycling, and plant-microbe interactions to reduce nutrient loss and greenhouse gas emissions.
Yannarell Lab
the Yannarell Lab studies how plants, microbes, and soil interact in changing ecosystems to understand feedbacks that affect restoration, invasions, and ecosystem health.