Research Interests
microbiologyinfectious diseasesmicrobial evolutionadaptive evolution
Opportunities
Work Study Positions Available: Yes
on going, must have earned a B or better in BIO 214, considered on a case-by-case basis, contact Dr. Buskirk at sbuskirk@wcupa.edu to apply
Grant Funded Positions Available: Yes
on going, must have earned a B or better in BIO 214, considered on a case-by-case basis, contact Dr. Buskirk at sbuskirk@wcupa.edu to apply
Course-Credit Research Opportunities Available: Yes
on going, must have earned a B or better in BIO 214, must complete a volunteer research position in the lab before course-credit opportunities will be considered, BIO 391 open to juniors, BIO 491 open to seniors (requires 2.50 overall GPA and 2.50 BIO GPA), contact Dr. Buskirk at sbuskirk@wcupa.edu to apply
Volunteer Research Positions Available: Yes
on going, must have earned a B or better in BIO 214, considered on a case-by-case basis, contact Dr. Buskirk at sbuskirk@wcupa.edu to apply
Biography
My research integrates molecular approaches and a modern evolutionary perspective to address questions in microbiology and infectious diseases. Microbial evolution permits the study of evolution in real-time and enables researchers to design experiments to address fundamental questions in biology. Microbes represent an excellent system for evolutionary studies due to their rapid reproduction, laboratory maintenance, simple genomes, and ease of manipulation. The design of evolution experiments is extremely flexible and can be modified to test hypotheses in evolutionary biology and many other fields. My research program is founded on the use of experimental evolution as tool to study the molecular basis of microbial traits.
