Department of Life Sciences Directory
- Faculty in the Department of Life Sciences
- Clinical Laboratory Science Program
- Fisheries and Mariculture Program
- Marine Biology Program
- Staff in the Department of Life Sciences
- Advisors for the College
Department of Life Sciences

Cherie McCollough, Ph.D.
Professor and ChairOffice: TH 135
Phone: (361) 825-3166
Email: cherie.mccollough@tamucc.edu
Website: https://DrCherieMc.com/
Science education; student retention; multicultural education; teacher mentoring and training; avian ecology and population biology

Gregory Buck, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Assistant to ChairOffice: TH 236
Phone: (361) 825-3717
Email: gregory.buck@tamucc.edu
Molecular biology of prokaryotes; medical microbiology; virology; science education

Ken Brown
Senior Administrative AssistantOffice: TH 309E
Phone: (361) 825-3907
Email: kenneth.brown@tamucc.edu

Keisha Bahr, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of BiologyOffice: TH 242
Phone: (361) 825-3707
Email: keisha.bahr@tamucc.edu
Website: https://www.bahrlab.com

Loretta Battaglia, Ph.D.
Professor & Director of CCSEmail: loretta.battaglia@tamucc.edu
Coastal ecosystems; invasive species; wetland plant communities; multivariate statistics

Chris Bird, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of BiologyOffice: TH 234
Phone: (361) 825-6024
Email: chris.bird@tamucc.edu
Website: https://birdlab.tamucc.edu
Molecular Ecology, Evolution, Population Genetics, Marine Biology, Community Ecology, Fisheries Management, Invertebrate Zoology, Biotechnology

Kirk Cammarata, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biology and Assistant to LSCI ChairOffice: TH 338
Phone: (361) 825-2468
Email: kirk.cammarata@tamucc.edu
Website: https://faculty.tamucc.edu/cammarat
Physiology/biochemistry/molecular biology of seagrass stress responses to anthropogenic impacts; epiphyte dynamics and interactions with seagrasses

Barnabas Daru, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of BiologyOffice: TH 141
Phone: (361) 825-3489
Email: barnabas.daru@tamucc.edu
Website: https://barnabasdaru.com
Evolutionary biogeography, herbarium records, phylogeny, phyloregions, vascular plants

Sharon Derrick D-ABFA, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Forensics CoordinatorOffice: TH 239
Phone: (361) 825-3637
Email: sharon.derrick@tamucc.edu
Forensic personal identification from the skeleton and bone trauma analysis.

Stella Doyungan, Ph.D.
Professional Associate ProfessorOffice: TH 232
Phone: (361) 825-3686
Email: stella.doyungan@tamucc.edu
Microbiology

Dale Gawlik
HRI Endowed ChairOffice: HRI 314A
Phone: (361) 825-2045
Email: dale.gawlik@tamucc.edu
Website: https://www.harte.org/research/conservation-biodiversity
Research interests: waterbird ecology and conservation, wetland and intertidal ecosystems, restoration ecology, and the use of birds in aquatic ecosystem management.

Simon Geist, Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorOffice: TH 337
Phone: (361) 825-4164
Email: simon.geist@tamucc.edu
Website: https://www.geistlarvallab.com
Early life history traits of fisheries resources: ecophysiology, ecology, recruitment-environment interactions

Chris Hollenbeck, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Fisheries and MaricultureOffice: TH 140
Phone: (361) 825-6022
Email: christopher.hollenbeck@tamucc.edu

Ivy Jones, Ph.D.
Professional Assistant ProfessorOffice: TH 133
Phone: (361) 825-3259
Email: ivy.jones@tamucc.edu

Qianqian Liu, Ph.D.
Professional Assistant Professor of Biomedical SciencesOffice: TH 241
Phone: (361) 825-2891
Email: qianqian.liu@tamucc.edu

Candice Lumibao, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of BiologyOffice: TH 333
Phone: (361) 825-3477
Email: candace.lumibao@tamucc.edu
Website: https://candicelumibaolab.com/
Plant-microbe interactions in coastal marshes, rhizosphere and endosphere microbial ecology, genomics, plant phenotypic and genetic trait variations, effects of climatic and anthropogenic changes, ancient plant DNA

Shawn McCracken, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of BiologyOffice: TH 142
Phone: (361) 825-3303
Email: shawn.mccracken@tamucc.edu
Website: https://www.mccrackenlab.com
Dr. McCrackens interests lie in the ecological and evolutionary responses

Judy Metcalf, Ph.D.
Professional Assistant ProfessorOffice: TH 134
Phone: (361) 825-3959
Email: judy.metcalf@tamucc.edu

Riccardo Mozzachiodi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of NeuroscienceOffice: TH 335
Phone: (361) 825-3634
Email: riccardo.mozzachiodi@tamucc.edu
Neurobiology; biological basis of learning and memory; behavior

Felix Omoruyi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Laboratory ScienceOffice: TH 238
Phone: (361) 825-2473
Email: felix.omoruyi@tamucc.edu
Currently, research in my laboratory is centered on the biochemical changes in the red blood cell membrane and serum in fairly and poorly controlled diabetic patients relative to healthy control.

Dara Orbach, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of BiologyOffice: TH 231
Phone: (361) 825-3217
Email: dara.orbach@tamucc.edu

Frank Pezold, Ph.D.
Life Sciences ProfessorOffice: TH 340
Phone: (361) 825-6377
Email: frank.pezold@tamucc.edu
Website: https://fishlab.tamucc.edu
Fish diversity, systematics, ecology and conservation

Jennifer Pollack, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Marine Biology and HRI Chair for Coastal Conservation & RestorationOffice: HRI 210A
Phone: (361) 825-2041
Email: jennifer.pollack@tamucc.edu
Website: https://www.harte.org/research/coastal-conservation-restoration
Field research experience in temperate salt marsh creeks, semi-arid estuaries, and polar regions

David Portnoy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Marine BiologyOffice: TH 138
Phone: (361) 825-2859
Email: david.portnoy@tamucc.edu
Website: https://marinegenomicslab.tamucc.edu
Conservation genetics of exploited marine fishes, historical patterns of zoogeography, systematics and evolution of bony fishes and elasmobranchs, patterns of sexual selection, conflict and speciation.

Ed Proffitt, Ph.D.
ProfessorOffice: TH 139
Phone: (361) 825-2358
Email: ed.proffitt@tamucc.edu
Website: https://edproffitt.wixsite.com/coastal-ecology
Ecology of estuarine and marine plants and invertebrates; ecological genetics; experimental design and biometry; applying multivariate statistics to address large-scale problems

Frauke Seemann, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Marine Biomedical ScienceOffice: TH 332
Phone: (361) 825-2683
Email: frauke.seemann@tamucc.edu

Jean Sparks, Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorDirector of Clinical Laboratory Science
Office: TH 237
Phone: (361) 825-2359
Email: jean.sparks@tamucc.edu
Clinical laboratory science; hematology; botany

Greg Stunz, Ph.D.
Professor of Marine Biology and Endowed Chair for Fisheries and Ocean HealthOffice: HRI 311C
Phone: (361) 825-3254
Email: greg.stunz@tamucc.edu
Marine biology, marine ecology, marine fisheries ecology, fisheries, estuarine ecology, environmental biology

M-Emad Tahtamouni, Ph.D.
Professional Assistant ProfessorOffice: TH 132
Phone: (361) 825-5819
Email: m-emad.tahtamouni@tamucc.edu

Jeffrey Turner, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Marine BiologyOffice: TH 240
Phone: (361) 825-6206
Email: jeffrey.turner@tamucc.edu
Website: https://turnerlab.tamucc.edu
Microbial Ecology, Molecular Biology, Population Genetics, Evolution, Genomics, Metagenomics, connections between oceans and human health

Benjamin Walther, Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorOffice: TH 336
Phone: (361) 825-4168
Email: benjamin.walther@tamucc.edu
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/waltherfishlab/
Fish migration ecology; population connectivity; habitat use; food web dynamics; carbonate chemistry

Michael Wetz, Ph.D.
Professor of Marine BiologyOffice: HRI 210B
Phone: (361) 825-2132
Email: michael.wetz@tamucc.edu
Website: https://www.harte.org/research/coastal-ecosystem-processes
Phytoplankton ecology, estuarine and coastal food webs and biogeochemical cycles, effects of climatic and anthropogenic change

Kim Withers, Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorOffice: NRC 3205
Phone: (361) 825-5907
Email: kim.withers@tamucc.edu
Tidal flat ecology; invertebrates & nekton of tidal flats & marshes; shorebird habitat use on tidal flats in Laguna Madre & Corpus Christi Bay; mangrove-associated faunas; seagrass ecology & invertebrate communities; impacts of succession on juvenile fish communities; fisheries resources in Texas & Mexico

Wei Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Marine Biomedical ScienceOffice: TH 331
Phone: (361) 825-2676
Email: wei.xu@tamucc.edu
Website: https://www.tamucc.edu/science/research/leh/wei-xu.php

Sue Burgess
Administrative AssistantOffice: TH 309G
Phone: (361) 825-2005
Email: sue.vickers@tamucc.edu

Jessica Han
Laboratory CoordinatorOffice: TH 210C
Phone: (361) 825-3628
Email: jessica.han@tamucc.edu

Philip Jose
Laboratory CoordinatorOffice: TH 143
Phone: (361) 825-5757
Email: philip.jose@tamucc.edu

Pedro Ramon
Laboratory CoordinatorOffice: TH 210A
Phone: (361) 825-4073
Email: pedro.ramon@tamucc.edu

Sarah Wood
Administrative AssistantOffice: TH 309F
Phone: (361) 825-2754
Email: sarah.wood@tamucc.edu