Welcome to the department of Biology at UVU! Our goal is to provide you with an engaging, exciting, and rewarding educational experience in an inclusive and supportive community. This is an exciting time to be a biologist! Advances in molecular biology and bioinformatics are leading to new insights in every field from ecology and evolution to genetics, cell biology, and microbiology. These diverse research areas provide information essential to addressing today’s challenges surrounding human, plant, animal and environmental health. Knowledge gained through the study of biology is being used to better understand and combat human, animal, and plant diseases. It is helping improve agricultural practices and develop new varieties of crops. Studies in ecology are providing knowledge about the health of our ecosystems and allowing us to address environmental sustainability, global climate change, and biodiversity conservation. Our degree programs provide the skills and knowledge necessary for you to tackle these challenges after graduation, as you join the workforce or further your study in graduate or professional programs. We look forward to guiding you as you work to accomplish your goals here at UVU!
The mission of the Biology Department is to create an engaged learning environment that promotes biological inquiry and the development of evidence based critical thinking skills. The department provides educational and research opportunities that support students in accomplishing their goals for post-graduate education, professional careers, and becoming scientifically informed citizens. The department fosters engagement, collaboration, mentoring, and professional development for faculty, staff, and students.
The UVU Biology department has 26 tenured and tenure track faculty along with a variety of instructors working across diverse areas of biology. Our faculty strive to be strong and skilled educators who believe that faculty and students have a shared responsibility to create a safe and inclusive learning environment for everyone. We recognize excellent student education as our first priority and engage students in their learning through classroom, laboratory, field work, research, and service opportunities. Our faculty maintain active research programs across many biological subdisciplines, allowing them to mentor student researchers investigating a diversity of research questions. The department has four different bachelor’s degree programs: Biology, Biology Education, Biotechnology and Botany, along with an associate’s degree in Biology. Our graduates have gone on to professional careers in health-related fields, are employed in the private and public sector as biologists and research scientists, and work in the school systems as educators. Please explore our website to learn more about our Department and what we have to offer. For more information please contact the Biology Advisors.
Michaela Gazdik Stofer
Associate Professor
Department Chair
Microbiology
Jessica A. Cusick
Assistant Professor
Behavioral Ecology, Social Behavior,
Stress Physiology, Development,
Host-Microbiome Relationships,
Evolution
Paul Dunn
Associate Professor
Ecology
Invertebrate Zoology
Marine Biology
Parasitology
Carl Hjelmen
Assistant Professor
Bioinformatics, Genomics,
Phylogenetics, Entomology
Heath Ogden
Professor
Evolution
Bioinformatics
Entomology
Science Pedagogy
Michael T. Stevens
Professor
Plant Ecology
Science Education
Zoe Thompson
Assistant Professor
Neuroendocrinology,
experimental evolution,
neurobiology of
voluntary exercise
Elyse Vaccaro
Lecturer
Evolution of Reproductive Behavior,
Neural Response to Pheromones
Heather Wilson-Ashworth
Professor
Science Pedagogy
Human Physiology
Britt Wyatt
Assistant Professor
Molecular biology and science pedagogy
