EEB at UTK

08/11/2026

Want to study in Panama this winter?

07/27/2026

The Ecology of Choice is a new course offering in EEB! Seats are still available for Fall '26.

07/20/2026

EEB's Laura Russo featured in The Conversation - link below!

Researchers were surprised to find how widespread this magnetic property was, not only across families of bees but also beetles, wasps and flies.

07/10/2026

Congratulations to Jacob Suissa on receiving the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)!

New ORAU award contributes to Jacob Suissa’s research on the evolution of ferns. Assistant Professor Jacob Suissa, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), will receive a Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). This prestigious $5,...

07/01/2026

Congrats to EEB Graduate student Katrina Pfennig (Tanner Lab) for receiving the prestigious fellowship from the Simon Foundation! Katrina's project is titled "Evaluating the ecological, evolutionary and genomic consequences of noise". The Simon Foundation fellowship provides 3-5 years of a generous stipend, education and research allowances and indirect costs for graduate students studying aspects of ecology, evolution and, this year, genetics. University of Tennessee College of Arts & Sciences

06/30/2026

Summer is in full swing, but Fall semester will be here before you know it! Seats are still available in Jacob Suissa's EEB 461 - Plant Structure and Function - this Fall. Get registered soon!

06/03/2026

Get 2 hours of course credit by registering for EEB 490 - Undergraduate Seminar - this Fall semester. CRN 46095.

06/01/2026

Researchers in EEB teamed up with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering to study the magnetism of bees.

MSE Associate Professor Dustin Gilbert has helped with a project that has measured magnetism in more than 120 different species of bees.

05/29/2026

Calling all EEB undergraduates!
Last year, EEB created an Undergrad Advisory Board to help us better understand undergrad student needs and experiences. We were thrilled to work with Tamara Smith, Owen Singleton, Eli Renner, Brody Moran, Josh Kreis, and Sean O’Gorman over the last year to set up an EEB GroupMe, suggest changes to the website, recruit new students, and consider programming to help students next year. All were amazing advocates for EEB students and made the board a real success.

Tamara, Owen, and Eli just graduated (congratulations!!!), so we are now seeking 2-3 nominees to serve on the 2026-2027 board. Students can nominate themselves or be nominated, must be declared EEB concentration students, and will be expected to meet with the EEB Head, Associate Head, and chair of Undergrad Affairs as a group 2-3 times a semester.

Who can be on the board:
Current Biology students with an EEB concentration, in any year
Earliest graduation date must be May 2027

Why should you serve on this board:
Contribute to improving the undergrad experience in EEB
Leadership experience for your CV/Resume

What will the board do?
Talk to others in the concentration to learn what is working/needs not being met
Meet with Dept. Head and Undergrad Affairs regularly throughout the year
Communicate needs/ideas
Report to other undergrads what is happening in EEB
Represent EEB in campus recruiting events

Please nominate yourself or others for this role by filling out the simple form at this link https://tinyurl.com/3y5uvvey with your name, verify you will be in the EEB concentration all of next year, and 2-3 sentences about why you would like to serve in this role.
We look forward to hearing from you!

05/28/2026

The Suissa lab and friends held their Spring 2026 Botany Retreat in Central Alabama. Included in the group were graduate students Susana Vega Betancur and Dusty Prater, lab manager Justyn Koenig, current and former undergraduates Ava Sabatini, Faith Kestner, and Cruz Gouveia, and Colgate botany professor Dr. Eddie Watkins. They were graciously hosted by Dr. Brian Keener at the Cahaba Biodiversity Center. While it may not seem like it, Alabama is a hotspot of biodiversity - it is the most biodiverse state east of the Mississippi!

The group spent most of their time on the Ketona Glades, which is a unique ecosystem composed of exposed magnesium-enriched Dolomite. It is a fire-adapted ecosystem, meaning it requires frequent fires for plants to survive and thrive. This site was formally documented in 1992, where eight species new to science were discovered. The Ketona Glades are perhaps the most significant botanical discovery in the U.S. during the 20th century. It is incredible to think that new species can be found in areas that have been explored for so long.

The Suissa lab saw several of the narrowly endemic species that grow on the glades. Some highlights include Dalea cahaba, a bean relative and Spigelia alabamensis, a gentian relative. They also saw the spectacular Cahaba Lillies (Hymenocallis coronaria) and some fascinating ferns such as the tropical disjunct lineage of Hymenophyllum tayloriae.