Department of Biology

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http://www.biology.mcmaster.ca
Faculty as of January 15, 2026

CHAIR

Ben Evans (Acting)

ASSOCIATE CHAIRS

Jonathon Stone (Undergraduate)
Graham Scott (Graduate)
Karen Kidd (Research)

UNIVERSITY SCHOLAR

Graham Scott (2021-2025)

PROFESSORS

Ben Bolker/(Mathematics and Statistics) B.S. (Yale), Ph.D. (Cambridge)
Robin K. Cameron/B.Sc. (Waterloo), Ph.D. (McGill)
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)
Ian Dworkin/B.Sc. (Trent), Ph.D. (Toronto)
Marie Elliot/B.Sc., Ph.D. (Alberta)
Ben Evans/B.S. (Tufts), M.S., M.Phil., Ph.D. (Columbia)
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)
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)
Herbert E. Schellhorn/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (North Carolina)
Graham Scott/B.Sc. (McMaster), M.Sc., Ph.D. (British Columbia)
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

Tao Dong/B.Sc. (Shandon University), Ph.D. (McMaster)
Thomas A. Edge/B.Sc. (Guelph), M.Sc. (Ottawa), Ph.D. (Carleton)
Kim Fernie/B.A., M.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (McGill)
Kelly Munkittrick/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (Waterloo)
Michael Paterson/B.Sc. (Winnipeg), M.Sc. (Indiana), Ph.D. (Halifax)
James S. Pringle/A.B. (Dartmouth), M.S. (New Hampshire), Ph.D. (Tennessee)
Lisa Taylor/B.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (McMaster)
Ze-Chun Yuan/B.Sc. (Henan), M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster) 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS

Rosa da Silva/B.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)
Lovaye Kajiura/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Jonathon Stone/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)

ADJUNCT ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS

Patricia Gillis/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (Waterloo)
Elizabeth A. Gow/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Saskatoon)
Ethan Paschos/Ph.D. (Munich)
Ryan Prosser/B.Sc., Ph.D. (Guelph)
Arthur Zastepa/B.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Ottawa)

ASSISTANT PROFESSORS

Cristina Abbatangelo/B.Sc. (McMaster), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)
Rebecca Doyle/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Memorial), Ph.D. (Toronto)
Emily Choy/B.Sc., M.Ed. (Queen’s), M.Sc. (Ottawa), Ph.D. (Manitoba)
Alexander Little/B.Sc., M.Sc. (Queen’s), Ph.D. (Sydney)
Krupa Patel/B.Sc. (Mississauga), B.Ed., Ph.D. (Toronto)
Muhammed Simsek/B.Sc. (Middle East Technical, Turkey), M.Sc. (Rutgers), Ph.D. (SUNY)

ADJUNCT ASSISTANT PROFESSORS

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Sigal Balshine/(Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour) B.Sc. (Toronto) , Ph.D. (Cambridge) /Canada Research Chair
Ana Campos/(Interdisciplinary Science) B.Sc., M.Sc. (Rio de Janeiro), Ph.D. (Brandeis)
Cameron Robert Currie/(Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences) B.Sc., M.Sc. (Alberta), Ph.D. (Toronto)
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)
Paul Faure/(Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour) B.Sc., M.Sc. (Calgary), Ph.D. (Cornell)
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
Marc G. Jeschke/(Surgery/Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences) MD (Tübingen), MMS (Texas), Ph.D. (Regensburg)
Hendrik Poinar/(Anthropology) B.Sc., M.Sc. (California), Ph.D. (Munich) /Canada Research Chair in Paleogenomics
Elyanne Ratcliffe/(Pediatrics) B.Arts Sc., M.D. (McMaster)

Notes Applicable to all Honours Biology Programs

1. The department offers the following Honours programs:
   • Honours Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences
   • Honours Biology Core
   • Honours Biology Research Specialization
   • Honours Biology - Physiology Core 
   • Honours Biology - Physiology Research Specialization
   • Honours Biology and Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour
   • Honours Biology and Mathematics
   • Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics Core 
   • Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics Research Specialization
   • Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics Research Specialization 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  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 - Physiology Core (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology - Physiology Research Specialization (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology and Mathematics (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology and Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology Core (B.Sc.)
• Honours Biology Research Specialization (B.Sc.)
• Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics Core (B.Sc.)
• Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics Research Specialization (B.Sc.)
• Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics Research Specialization Co-op (B.Sc.)

• Minor in Biology

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