Biology – Faculty and Courses

Ph.D. in Zoology
Oklahoma State University, 2001

Research Interests: Impact of Disturbance in Ecosystems, Freshwater Ecology, Restoration Ecology, Biogeography, Population/Conservation Genetics

Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Research Interests: Cell Biology

Dr. Carletti earned her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology from William Jewell College in 2003, and her PhD in Molecular and Integrative Physiology from the University of Kansas Medical Center in 2009.  After a brief post-doctoral research position at the University of Kansas Medical Center studying breast cancer, Dr. Carletti stayed at home with her three children for a few years and did some adjunct teaching on the side.  After realizing that teaching was her passion, Dr. Carletti accepted a position at Benedictine College in 2014.  She lives with her husband and her three children in Weston, Missouri.  In her free time, she loves to run marathons, travel with her family to National Parks, cheer her kids on at all their sporting events, and hang out with the family boxer dog, Chip.

Research Interests: Esophageal Cancer

Ph.D. in Molecular and Integrative Physiology
University of Kansas Medical Center, 2009

I am a broadly trained biologist with specific interests in conservation ecology, ecotoxicology, and physiological ecology. I developed these foundational and intersectional interests as an undergraduate (Benedictine College, 2004) when I got the opportunity to be involved in and take ownership of the research process, doing mentored and paid summer research and publishing our work. My M.S. (College of Charleston, 2008) and Ph.D. (UNC Wilmington, 2012) work focused on ecotoxicology, physiology, behavior, and demography. My postdoc work (Kansas State University 2012-13) focused on anthropogenic drivers of population change. During my time at Benedictine College, I have continued to focus my research in areas that represent the interfaces of different aspects of Biology. I have worked on projects that addressed questions about, i) effects of wind energy development and burning and grazing practices on the conservation of wild and economically valuable game species, ii) mercury exposure in wetland songbirds under different water management regimes, iii) and long-term population recovery of Bald Eagles in Kansas. My most recent research includes teams of undergraduates working on grant- and donor-funded research projects involving, i) the translocation of pheasants to a mitigation site south of Atchison, and ii) pollinator diversity, habitat, and conservation.

Research Interests: Ecology, Ornithology, Demography, Toxicology, Energy development, Rangeland management, Habitat restoration

Ph.D. in Marine Biology
University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2012

I earned a B.S. in Biology at Brigham Young University-Idaho before working on my master’s degree at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. My master’s research focused on plant-insect interactions, detailing a mechanism by which quaking aspen defend themselves against herbivores. After earning my M.S. in Biology, I researched how species coexist and the effects of species diversity for my PhD at Iowa State University. Specifically, I examined the interactions between plant diversity and herbivory in grasslands. During this time, I began working with the Nutrient Network, a global collaboration to assess human impacts on grassland ecology. After completing my PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, I began working at Benedictine College teaching courses in plant and general biology and continue to study questions related to plant communities, herbivory, and biodiversity in the field, lab, and through computer modeling. I am also interested in pedagogy and work with biologists around the world to develop new tools to improve learning in biology.

Ph.D. in Marine Biology
University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2012

Research Interests: Herbivore effects on plant diversity, small mammal foraging behavior, consumer-resource models

Ph.D in Plant Biology
Michigan State University, 2011

Research Interests: Microbial community response to changing environments, Fusarium graminearum

Dr. Stubblefield grew up throughout the Midwest as his parents were both officers in the United States Air Force. His family ultimately settled in northern Illinois where he considers “home.” He attended the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science Degree. Dr. Stubblefield is fascinated by the science of time and conducted research in the biological timing, or circadian rhythms, of metabolism at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he completed his PhD in Neuroscience in 2016. He continued his research on the molecular mechanisms of biological timing with his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Texas Health San Antonio. He made discoveries related to time-of-day differences in the brain’s response to neurotrauma in mice. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at Benedictine, Dr. Stubblefield mentors students in neuroscience research on circadian rhythms, metabolism and neurotrauma.

Ph.D. in Neuroscience
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2016

Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of biological timing