While teaching is the primary focus of Waldorf University, all Biology professors maintain externally-funded research programs. Research provides many advantages to the Biology program: 1) because the professors involve students in their work, research is their most effective teaching tool; 2) by allowing professors to practice their discipline and remain current, their courses remain current and exciting; 3) because the professors frequently publish their work, it strengthens both their and the University’s credibility in the wider scientific community. Their multiple grants have ranged from $2,500 to over $100,000 from federal and state agencies (e.g., National Academy of Science, U.S. Geological Survey, Iowa Academy of Science), universities (e.g., University of Iowa), and private corporations (e.g., Colgate-Palmolive, Inc.).

Research Topics

Biology professors pursue a wide variety of research topics. Waldorf’s biology department is represented by faculty with research interests in three different areas of biology.

Dr. Gary Coombs has focused his research career on protein structure/function studies and drug discovery in cardiovascular medicine, oncology, and rare/emerging diseases. He uses tools from molecular biology, enzymology, biochemistry, and biophysics to gain insights into pharmacologically targetable functions in various cancers, Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, and Naegleria fowleri infection. Dr. Coombs has conducted substrate phage display to develop specific serine protease inhibitors applicable to modulating blood clotting and relevant also to cancer metastasis and angiogenesis (recruitment of blood vessels), has performed high throughput screening for novel inhibitors of Wnt signaling which underlies growth and progression of specific tumor types and has helped to establish methods for using fruit flies to study cell and tissue level defects and test drug candidates in a fruit fly model of Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. Dr. Coombs actively involves Waldorf students in current research.

Dr. David Flagel primarily researches community ecology, focusing on the chains of indirect interactions known as “trophic cascades.” His work has mainly revolved around the indirect effects of gray wolves (Canis lupus) on forest plants and mammals in the Great Lakes Region. This research suggests that wolves benefit sapling growth (Acer spp.) and wildflower diversity through changes in the density and/or behavior of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).  Dr. Flagel has also published research that suggests that wolves create trophic cascades through their interactions with coyotes (Canis latrans), benefitting foxes (Tribe Vulpini) and snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus). The benefits to the former in this study may have also negatively impacted deer mice (Peromyscus spp.) in some years. Dr. Flagel is expanding his work on the ecology of fear, assessing whether it might be possible to generate similar trophic cascades without wolves being present. He hopes to involve more Waldorf students in these efforts. 

Dr. Eric Linder has examined how populations and communities change across time and space. These changes may be from natural stressors, e.g., drought or climate, or human causes, e.g., habitat fragmentation or land management applications. He has worked in most biomes, e.g., tundra, prairie, scrub, and rainforest, from Alaska to Brazil. Much of his work addresses populations or communities that are of conservation concern across a wide variety of taxa. For example, he has worked with tardigrades, mammals, reptiles and many bird species. Much of this work has supported the efforts of state and federal wildlife agencies and many non-governmental organizations. Dr. Linder has also analyzed spatial distribution patterns, both at the local level and at the continental scale, and those factors may influence the unequal and unique abundance patterns displayed by all organisms. He hopes to involve more Waldorf students in his research efforts.

Allison Shackelton has researched vertebrate paleontology, mainly on Cenozoic mammals. She has studied the diversity and taxonomy of subfossil Malagasy pygmy hippopotamuses; she used measurements of cranial and postcranial bones to determine the number of groups included in specimens from Ampasambazimba, Tsaramody, and Anjohibe. She also examined cranial and postcranial bones of subadult specimens to learn about growth patterns in Malagasy pygmy hippos. She used statistical analysis of published and unpublished stable isotope data to learn about the diets and environments of Malagasy hippos from different ecoregions and species. Ms. Shackelton has also researched microwear on the teeth of a small, deer-like animal called Leptomeryx from the Eocene and Oligocene Epochs in Wyoming and Nebraska, with results suggesting that paleoecological changes over time did not significantly change their diets, but diets may have been geographically different.