Research

We study life in context. Our research aims to answer fundamental questions that address national needs related to sustainable biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human and animal health and welfare. We focus on developing an integrative understanding of how complex biological systems develop, function, interact and evolve in a complex and changing world. Our vision is based on the proposition that by examining biological phenomena at all levels of the hierarchy of life in their ecological and evolutionary contexts, we can identify more meaningful questions and develop more meaningful answers. We work across the entire tree of life at all levels of biological organization, ranging from molecules to global ecosystems, over time scales ranging from milliseconds to millennia.

Our directory provide general descriptions of the diverse research initiatives. A more vivid and dynamic picture can be seen from the news stories posted on our home page, news page, and abstracted below. Feel free to contact any of us for more information.

Affiliated Units 

• BEACON
• Cellular & Molecular Biology
• Center for Integrative Toxicology
• Cognitive Science
• CREATE for STEM
• Forensic Science
• Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, & Behavior
• Environmental Science & Public Policy
• Institute for Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution, and Macrosystems
• Long-Term Ecological Research
• MSU Museum 
• Neuroscience
• Quantitative Biology & Modeling
• W.K. Kellogg Biological Station