Department of Biology

Social evolution

Social sharing of liquid food between ant nestmates ©Alexander Wild

Bacterial Respiratory Complex

Structural model of a bacterial respiratory complex III: remember that when you respire, your complex III perspires to produce your body's energy.

Bacterial Microcolonies

Cell-to-cell variability of Vibrio choerae expressing green fluorescent protein from a flagellar promoter.

Larix siberica

Siberian Larch, taken at our field site near Lake Khovsgol in north-central Mongolia. We are analyzing tree-ring width and stable isotopes of the tree rings to reconstruct climate, and Larch responses to climate change, over the past century as the temperature in Mongolia has risen.

Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli cells with fluorescently labeled chromosomal loci.

Malaria parasites

Malaria parasites (and their kin) can be viewed as minimal eukaryotes, harboring a nucleus (yellow), a secretory pathway the Golgi (purple) and specialized ‘rhotpry’ organelle (black), and two endosymbiotic organelles, the mitochondrion (red) and apicoplast (green).

Feeding worker and queen

Social evolution: honey bee nurse workers rear larvae as either new queens or new workers

Arabidopsis

Wild-type and transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing miR156, a microRNA that promotes juvenility and increases the rate of leaf initiation

News

Professor Emeritus Dorothy Cheney featured in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

April 27, 2018

Dorothy Cheney’s research was highlighted as a feature profile in the April 17 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Her Inaugural Article, cowritten with Robert Seyfarth, explored the hypothesis that many primate vocalizations shape social interactions- using calls in a learned, flexible manner to facilitate social interactions. Cheney and Seyfarth’s decades of studying behavior, communication, and social cognition have lent many insights into the social structures of nonhuman primates.
Doris Wagner named Robert I. Williams Term Professor of Biology

March 14, 2018

Congratulations to Doris Wagner on this honor!
Award winning voodoo lily

March 12, 2018

Greenhouse and Garden Manager Josh Darfler reports the Amorphophallus konjac, voodoo lily, is once again blooming in the Lynch Laboratory greenhouses. The greenhouse staff is especially excited this year because one of our two A. konjac flowers won third place at the 2018 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, and now our second one is just opening up! Be sure to come by the greenhouse for a real olfactory surprise, but be quick the flowers don’t last long.
Biology Graduate Student, Bianca Charbonneau's research on sand dunes is featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

October 16, 2017

In the October 15, 2017 New Jersey edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bianca's research on grasses and dune strength is featured, including a description of her wind tunnel set in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The wind tunnel helps Bianca and her team understand the impact of strong winds on the sand dunes and the dune grasses.

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Events

Seminar Series, TBA

September 6, 2018 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Tedori Family Auditorium, Levin Building
Justin Fay, Rochester

September 13, 2018 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Tedori Family Auditorium, Levin Building
Carl Bergstrom, University of Washington

September 20, 2018 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Tedori Family Auditorium, Levin Building

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Highlights

Flowers all year long

Josh Darfler, Greenhouse and Garden Manager

The James G. Kaskey Memorial Park sits on the grounds of the University of Pennsylvania’s original botanic garden planted in the late 1800s. Today, its three acres provide a green oasis on the south end of Penn’s urban campus, surrounded by the Department of Biology. The Park staff continues to increase the diversity of plants growing within those boundaries and there is something of interest to see almost every day of the year. As winter lingers, sweet smelling Chimonanthus praecox (yellow wintersweet) are blooming, along with Camellia japonica (camellia) cultivars. When spring finally arrives, the ephemerals will begin to bloom - be on the lookout for Erythronium americanum (trout lilies), Trillium (trillium) species, and Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot) to begin flowering. Follow the Kaskey Park on Facebook and Instagram (@upennbiopond) to enjoy the progression of flowers throughout the year.