Research Labs

The Biology faculty pursue research questions that range from the molecular through organismal behavior to ecosystems and community. Faculty and student researchers collaborate closely in nationally funded labs to contribute to the process of discovery and advancement of knowledge. 

Below are descriptions of each faculty lab. Interested students should individually contact the faculty member.

Professor Flavia Barbosa

I am a behavioral ecologist interested primarily in sexual selection. I study mating behavior employing insects as model species, both in the field and the laboratory. My current research is on katydids and moths, but I have also worked with flies, beetles and treehoppers.
I am fascinated by the degrees of elaboration and variation in animal mating traits, including courtship displays, mating songs, elaborate genitalia and nuptial gifts (items offered to a mate during courtship or copulation). In most species, males compete for mates, while females have mate preferences, choosing their mates based on certain male traits. Female preferences can therefore exert strong selective pressure on males, playing a major role in the elaboration and diversification of mating traits, and potentially generating population divergence and speciation. My research focuses on the evolution of traits used to attract mates, the costs and benefits of reproductive investments, and the mechanisms and functions of mating preferences.Students interested in joining my lab can contact me at barbosa@lakeforest.edu.
Professor Barbosa’s website

Professor William C. Beckerson

The ZomBeetles lab conducts research in the field of neuroparasitology. Our goal is to understand how some fungal pathogens are able to manipulate the behavior of beetles to improve the spread of fungal spores. This includes work with local zombie goldenrod soldier beetles as well as various species of zombie weevils in South America. Neuroparasitology research is highly interdisciplinary, incorporating techniques from many other disciplines of biology like neurobiology, behavioral ecology, entomology, mycology, bioinformatics, and molecular genetics. By understanding how these neuroparasites are able to affect the nervous system of beetle species, we aim to discover species-specific biomolecules that can be used as sustainable biocontrol agents for agricultural beetle pests like the grain weevil and the red palm weevil. If you are interested in joining the ZomBeetles team, you can contact me at wbeckerson@lakeforest.edu
Professor Beckerson’s website 

Professor Rebecca Delventhal

The type of research questions that we find interesting and pursue in the Delventhal lab are very diverse, but ultimately are all routed in the goal of uncovering the molecular mechanisms (which genes are expressed, how cells communicate, etc.) that contribute to biological processes that manifest at the level of a whole organism (such as behavior, survival, development, immunity, metabolism, etc.). We use Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, as a model organism to study molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying biological processes. There are two main research areas in the lab, with several student projects contributing to each. One investigates the tissue- and life stage-specific function of a protein complex in the endoplasmic reticulum (EMC) in protein biogenesis. Recent student work has uncovered an essential developmental role in glial cells, as well as a role in interorgan communication and regulation of reproduction. The second research area uses a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) model to induce neurodegenerative symptoms such as decreased lifespan, increased brain protein aggregation and neuroinflammation, disrupted metabolic regulation, and locomotor function. Recently published work by undergraduate researchers shows that outcomes of milder, multi-day injury differ from those after a single severe injury, and current projects examine the role of oxidative stress in this difference. Interested students can email Becky at rdelventhal@lakeforest.edu and check out the lab website: https://www.delventhallab.com/

Professor Breanna Harris

My research examines how stressors shape physiology and behavior across scales—from cells to ecosystems—drawing on concepts from endocrinology, ecology, evolution, and medicine. Much of our work focuses on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, an evolutionarily conserved system whose hormones influence multiple processes and behaviors. Dysregulation of this axis is linked to conditions like PTSD, depression, obesity, and Alzheimer's, though the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. Using animal and human studies, we work to understand how stressor-related responses correspond to differences in health, behavior, and evolutionary fitness. We do this by tackling two complementary central questions: 1) How does response to and recovery from stressors translate into functional consequences for organismal behavior (e.g., cognition, risk-taking, feeding), life history trade-offs, health, and evolutionary fitness? And 2) How do individual variation (e.g., sensory perception, genotype, diet, sex, life history stage), and interactions with the biotic and abiotic environment alter physiological and behavioral responses to stressors?

Additionally, we are interested in the unresolved, basic questions in the area: What is stress? How do we measure it, and what makes a stress response "adaptive"? We probe these assumptions and we also examine how researchers' own perspectives—shaped by training, discipline, and context—influence the questions we ask and how we interpret data. As the field grows, critically interrogating these assumptions is essential to advancing our understanding of stress. Lastly, we contribute to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) via publications and case studies.

Students interested in joining my lab can contact me at bharris@lakeforest.edu.

Professor Karen E. Kirk

Our laboratory studies how telomeres, the chromosome termini, are kept intact.   We want to understand how the telomerase RNA, which supplies the template for the synthesis of telomeric DNA, functions in regulating telomere length.  The telomeres get shorter without this RNA, which is detrimental to all cells, and at a minimum, contributes to cellular aging.  Our research is conducted in model organisms that are quick to reproduce and easy to use, like the filamentous fungus Aspergillus, and thus are great for undergraduates.
Professor Kirk’s website

Professor Sean Menke

My research integrates the study of ecology, behavior and evolution into the fields of biogeography, community ecology and invasion biology by using modeling and experimental techniques to link patterns of species occurrence with processes that determine species persistence, coexistence, and movement across spatial scales. My most recent research has focused on 1) The transition in life history traits of species between natural and urban environments 2) How urbanization and biological invasions effect geographic patterns of diversity and 3) How climate and habitat restoration influence community structure. 
Students interested in doing a research project or independent study can contact me at menke@lakeforest.edu.
Professor Menke’s website