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 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