Skip Navigation

Geographical Ecology

Skip Side Navigation

Geographical Ecology (Strategic Research Initiative)

Many of ecology’s most fundamental patterns manifest at scales of landscapes and continents. Biology faculty are collaborating with colleagues across campus to establish an international center of excellence exploring the geography of our evolving biosphere. We combine the tools of ecology, evolution, and biogeography to explore how water, atmosphere, and biogeochemistry shape biodiversity and ecosystem services. We build the theoretical and empirical foundations of geographical ecology to better predict biotic change and steward our natural resources and services.

Geographical Ecology is a rapidly growing and integrative discipline. We train our students to explore unique and useful connections among genomics and physiological ecology, population and community ecology, and biogeography and macroecology toward answering big questions. Our students have access to our faculty’s deep knowledge of biodiversity via the Oklahoma Biological Survey, the Bebb Herbarium, and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. They have access to the technological tools and datasets of of the OSCER supercomputing cluster, the Advanced Center for Genome Technology, the National Weather Center, The Climate Survey, the Water Survey, and the South Central Climate Science Center. They work around the globe, combining laboratory studies, field experiments, and comparative methods to answer their questions. Our students are supported by a variety of sources, from NSF graduate fellowships and DIGGs, DOE GANN fellowships, research and teaching assistantships.

Join us.

Faculty members

Arcila, Dahiana Ph.D. Biology Faculty http://www.fishphylogeny.org
Becker, Daniel J. Ph.D. Biology Faculty http://danieljbecker.weebly.com/
Bergey, Elizabeth A. Ph.D. Biology Faculty https://biosurvey.ou.edu/bergey/
Betancur-R., Ricardo Ph.D. Biology Faculty http://www.fishphylogeny.org
Bridge, Eli Ph.D. Affiliated Faculty http://thebridgelab.oucreate.com
Broughton, Richard E. Ph.D. Biology Faculty https://biosurvey.ou.edu/dna/index.html
Hambright, Dave Ph.D. Biology Faculty http://davehambright.oucreate.com
Hung, K.-L. James Ph.D. Affiliated Faculty none
Kaspari, Michael E. Ph.D. Biology Faculty http://michaelkaspari.org
Kelly, Jeffrey F. Ph.D. Biology Faculty https://www.ou.edu/cas/biology/people/faculty/jeffrey-kelly
Lanier, Hayley Ph.D. Biology Faculty http://lanierlab.org
Marske, Katharine A. Ph.D. Biology Faculty https://kamarske.org
Matthews, William J. Ph.D. Biology Faculty Emeritus https://www.ou.edu/cas/biology/people/faculty/william-matthews
Ross, Jeremy Ph.D. Affiliated Faculty http://severeweatherecology.oucreate.com
Rowe, Matt Ph.D. Biology Faculty https://rowelab.oucreate.com
Siler, Cameron D. Ph.D. Biology Faculty https://cameronsiler.com
Vaughn, Caryn C. Ph.D. Biology Faculty https://carynvaughn.com