Department of Biology

http://www.biology.mcmaster.ca
Faculty as of January 15, 2021

CHAIR

Marie Elliot

ASSOCIATE CHAIRS

Rosa da Silva (Undergraduate)
Jianping Xu (Graduate)

UNIVERSITY SCHOLAR

Joanna Wilson (2019-2023)

PROFESSORS

Robert Baker/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (Alberta)
André Bédard/B.Sc. (Montreal), Ph.D. (McGill)
Ben Bolker/(Mathematics and Statistics) B.S. (Yale), Ph.D. (Cambridge)
Robin K. Cameron/B.Sc. (Waterloo), Ph.D. (McGill)
Ana Campos/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Rio de Janeiro), Ph.D. (Brandeis)
Patricia Chow-Fraser/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Waterloo), Ph.D. (Toronto)
Juliet M. Daniel/B.Sc. (Queen’s), Ph.D. (British Columbia)
Susan A. Dudley/B.Sc., M.Sc. (McGill), Ph.D. (Chicago)
Jonathan Dushoff/B.Sc. (Pennsylvania), Ph.D. (Princeton)
Marie Elliot/B.Sc., Ph.D. (Alberta)
Ben Evans/B.S. (Tufts), M.S., M.Phil., Ph.D. (Columbia)
Turlough M. Finan/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Galway), Ph.D. (Guelph)
G. Brian Golding/B.Sc. (Dalhousie), Ph.D. (Alberta)
Bhagwati Gupta/B.Sc. (Banaras Hindu), M.Sc. (Jawaharlal Nehru), Ph.D. (TATA Institute)
Suleiman A. Igdoura/B.Sc. (Victoria), M.Sc. (Western Ontario), Ph.D. (McGill)
J. Roger Jacobs/B.Sc. (Calgary), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)
Karen Kidd/B.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (Alberta)
Jurek Kolasa/M.Sc., Ph.D. (Poznan)
Grant B. McClelland/B.Sc. (Ottawa), Ph.D. (British Columbia)
Carmel E. Mothersill/B.Sc., Ph.D. (University College Dublin)/Senior Canada Research Chair
Michael J. O’Donnell/B.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)
James S. Quinn/B.Sc. (Queen’s), M.Sc. (Brock), Ph.D. (Oklahoma)
C. David Rollo/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (British Columbia)
Herbert E. Schellhorn/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (North Carolina)
Colin B. Seymour/DCR(RT) (Guy’s Hospital), B.L. (King’s Inn), Ph.D. (Trinity College Dublin)
Rama S. Singh/B.Sc. (Agra), M.Sc. (Kanpur), Ph.D. (California-Davis)
Elizabeth A. Weretilnyk/B.Sc., Ph.D. (Alberta)
Joanna Wilson/B.Sc. (McMaster), M.Sc. (Victoria), Ph.D. (MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Jianping Xu/B.Sc. (Jiangxi), M.Sc. (Nanjing and Toronto), Ph.D. (Toronto)
Xu-Dong Zhu/B.Sc. (Nanjing), M.Sc. (Regina), Ph.D. (Toronto)

ADJUNCT PROFESSORS

Douglas R. Boreham/B.Sc. (Laurentian), Ph.D. (Ottawa)
Thomas A. Edge/B.Sc. (Guelph), M.Sc. (Ottawa), Ph.D. (Carleton)
David A. Galbraith/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (Queen’s)
Patricia Gillis/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (Waterloo)
Kelly Munkittrick/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (Waterloo)
James S. Pringle/A.B. (Dartmouth), M.S. (New Hampshire), Ph.D. (Tennessee)
Glen Van Der Kraak/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Manitoba), Ph.D. (British Columbia) 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS

Ian Dworkin/B.Sc. (Trent), Ph.D. (Toronto)
Lovaye Kajiura/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Graham Scott/B.Sc. (McMaster), M.Sc., Ph.D. (British Columbia)/Canada Research Chair
Jonathon Stone/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)/SHARCNet Chair in Computational Biology/Associate Director, Origins Institute

ADJUNCT ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Ethan Paschos/Ph.D. (Munich)

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Rosa da Silva/B.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)

ADJUNCT ASSISTANT PROFESSORS

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Sigal Balshine/(Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour) B.Sc. (Toronto) , Ph.D. (Cambridge) /Canada Research Chair
Kimberley Dej/(Interdisciplinary Science) B.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (John Hopkins)
Reuven Dukas/(Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour) B.Sc. (Jerusalem) , Ph.D. (North Carolina State)
David Earn/(Mathematics and Statistics) B.Sc., M.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Cambridge)
Margaret Fahnestock/(Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences) B.Sc. (Stanford), Ph.D. (California-Berkeley)
Deda C. Gillespie/(Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour) B.Sc. (Yale), Ph.D. (California-San Francisco)
Chad Harvey/(Interdisciplinary Science) B.Sc. (Guelph), M.Sc. (Auburn), Ph.D. (Wisconsin-Madison)
Paul G. Higgs/(Physics & Astronomy) B.Sc., Ph.D. (Cambridge) /Senior Canada Research Chair
Wolfgang Kunze/(Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences) B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (University of Melbourne, Australia)
Ram Mishra/(Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences) B.Sc. (Udaipur), M.Sc. (LSU Medical Center), Ph.D. (Memorial University)
Hendrik Poinar/(Anthropology) B.Sc., M.Sc. (California), Ph.D. (Munich) /Canada Research Chair in Paleogenomics
Jonathan N. Pruitt/(Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour) B.A. (South Florida) , Ph.D. (Tennessee)/Canada 150 Research Chair
Elyanne Ratcliffe/(Pediatrics) B.Arts Sc., M.D. (McMaster), F.R.C.P.C.
Angela Scott/(Pathology) B.Sc., B.A., Ph.D. (Saskatchewan)
J. Michael Waddington/(Earth, Environment & Society) B.Sc. (McMaster), M.Sc., Ph.D. (York)

Notes Applicable to all Honours Biology Programs

1. The department offers the following Honours programs:
   • Honours Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences
   • Honours Biology
   • Honours Biology - Discovery Sub-Plan
   • Honours Biology (Physiology)
   • Honours Biology and Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour
   • Honours Biology and Mathematics
   • Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics
   • Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics Co-op (entry at Level III)

As well, Honours Neuroscience is offered jointly with the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour. (See Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour section of the Calendar for program details.)

All options are suitable for students wishing to pursue graduate studies in Biology.

2. Transfer between programs is possible, subject to satisfying the admission requirements and availability of space.
3. There are Level II and III prerequisites for many Level III and IV courses. The prerequisites should be considered when choosing Level II and III courses.
4. Students wishing to include more mathematical statistics may replace STATS 2B03  with 2D03 , 2MB3 . In this case, students are advised to complete MATH 1AA3  or 1LT3  in Level I.
5. Students considering graduate studies in Biology are recommended to complete BIOLOGY 2L03  (or 2L06 A/B ) and either BIOLOGY 4C12 A/B S  or 4F06 A/B S . 

B.Sc. Three-Level Degree

A three-level program with a general Life Sciences orientation is available through the B.Sc. in Life Sciences .

Programs

• Honours Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology - Discovery Sub-Plan (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology - Physiology (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology and Mathematics (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology and Pharmacology Co-op (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology and Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour (B.Sc.)
• Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics (B.Sc.)
• Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics Co-op (B.Sc.)

• Minor in Biology