Ecology and Global Change Biology

Faculty members and students in KU-EEB explore the interactions of organisms with each other and with their environment to elucidate the principles that govern ecological systems and their responses to global change phenomena. Research spans levels of organization from genes to ecosystems, and addresses questions in physiological, behavioral, population, community, and ecosystem ecology. Diverse taxa—microbes, protists, plants, and animals—are studied using observational, theoretical, and experimental approaches, both in the field, and in the laboratory with model organisms.

Ongoing research is aimed at understanding how global-change phenomena, such as climate change, altered patterns of land use, changing atmospheric chemistry, and biotic invasions, shape ecology and evolution. High-quality instrumentation is available on campus, as well at the nearby University of Kansas Field Station and Ecological Reserves.

Click here to see a list of EEB faculty who are conducting research in this area.

Prominent areas of study include:

Aquatic ecology and river dynamics
Biodiversity
Biogeochemical cycling in
ecosystems
Infectious disease
Plant physiological ecology
Population dynamics and
ecological genetics