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The Department of Biology offers students the opportunity to study the living world, from biomolecules to ecosystems. Knowledge of biology is critical for addressing current medical, environmental, and social issues in our rapidly changing world.

Biology graduate featured as Women's Day Woman of Impact

Conservationist and National Geographic Explorer Laly Lichtenfeld began her work in East Africa as a Fulbright Scholar researching community-based conservation in 1996.

2018 Student Award Winners

Congratulations to the following student award winners:

Dickinson Award: Ruhin Farsin
Smart Award: McKenzie Murvin, Parr McQueen, Jack Scheutzow, Barbara Fujita

Biology Feature Stories

University of Richmond Professor Todd Lookingbill Honored for Leadership in Landscape Ecology
University of Richmond’s Todd Lookingbill, associate professor of geography, environmental studies, and biology, has received the 2019 Distinguished Service Award by the U.S. Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology.
  • Dr. Amy Treonis wins Fulbright
    Dr. Amy Treonis wins Fulbright

    Dr. Amy Treonis, Associate Professor of Biology, has received a Fulbright Scholar award for travel to Namibia. Her project, “Immortality and Fairy Circles: Nematode Ecology of the Namib Desert” explores nematodes, an understudied group of microscopic organisms ubiquitous to soils and sediments.

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University of Richmond Biology Professor Amy Treonis Awarded Fulbright for Teaching and Research on Soil Ecology in Namibia
Amy Treonis, an associate professor of biology, has received a Fulbright Scholar award to support ten months of teaching and research at the University of Namibia in Africa.
New Sabbatical Fellowship Program in the School of Arts & Sciences
Building Community in A&S
Gaithersburg Resident Awarded Competitive Gilman Scholarship to Study Abroad in Japan
Three University of Richmond students have received Gilman scholarships to support their study abroad experiences this spring and summer.
  • de Sá Article
    de Sá Article

    Biology professor Rafael de Sá, with collaborators including Travis Cuddy, '14, published, "A molecular insight on the relationships of the poorly known genus Niceforonia Goin and Cochran, 1963 (Craugastoridae, Holoadeninae) in the journal Zootaxa.
  • deSa Articles
    deSa Articles Biology professor Rafael O. deSa, with collaborators published Multiple connections between Amazonia and Atlantic Forest shaped phylogenetic and morphological diversity in the genus Chiasmocleis Mehely, 1904 (Anura: Microhylidae: Gastrophryne) in Molecular Phylogenetic and Evolution and A review of the Rivulidae (Cyprinodontiformes, Aplocheilodei) and molecular and morphological phylogeny of the annual fish genus Austrolebias in Neotropical Ichthyology
UR Faculty and Students Raise and Release Monarch Butterflies
As part of an international conservation effort to protect the declining monarch population, University of Richmond students have been raising, tagging, and releasing monarch butterflies.
  • Boland Article
    Boland Article

    Linda Boland, three students (Hannah Small '18, Harper Robinson '18, Aaron Corbin VCU '16 and UR-IIS Post-Bac Fellow '18), and an external collaborator have published a new paper, "A Xenopusoocyte model system to study action potentials" in the Journal of General Physiology.
Warrior care.Committed to serving the country after 9/11, Maj. Max Sirkin, '08, has developed a life-saving invention for the military. Read his story.
A matter of priorities.Photographer Jensen Sutta, '99, turns down well-paying assignments to support nonprofit work in Haiti. Read his story.
  • Boland Article
    Boland Article

    Biology professor Linda Boland, along with visiting research scholar Dick Dickens and Shriraj Patel, '18, published "Proteins mediating reception and transduction in chemosensory neurons in mosquitoes," in Frontiers in Physiology.
University of Richmond Faculty and Staff Rescue Tens of Thousands of Bees from Downed Tree Following Monday's Tornadoes
As a result of the storms across the region Sept. 17, a large tree filled with bees fell across Towana Road near the University of Richmond campus.
  • Lookingbill Named Distinguished Educator
    Lookingbill Named Distinguished Educator

    Geography and biology professor Todd Lookingbill was named a 2018 University of Richmond Distinguished Educator.
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Contact Us

Mailing address:
Biology Department, Gottwald Science Center B-100
138 UR Drive
University of Richmond, VA 23173

Phone: (804) 289-8871
Fax: (804) 289-8233

Department Chair: Krista Stenger
Administrative Coordinator: Carol Esposito
 Administrative Coordinator, Pre-Health and Integrative Science: Deatrice Cleaton