Our Faculty
UWM recognized and honored its employees, highlighted by the Length of Service Awards ceremony on February 10, 2026. Employees reaching work milestones, ranging from five years up to 45 years at the university, were recognized and saluted for their hard work and everyday dedication to faculty and staff. Out of the many recognized employees, Biological Sciences had two honorees: Dr. Heather Owens of 30 years and Dr. Jeff Karron with 35 years of service.
Dr. Ching-Hong Yang was elected as a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society (APS). APS Fellowship is one of the Society’s highest honors and recognizes sustained contributions to plant pathology through research, teaching, mentoring, extension, and professional service. Fewer than 0.5% of APS members are elected each year. Dr. Yang shared, “I am grateful for the supportive environment in our department, which has played a critical role in my research program and in the training of students and postdocs.”
Dr. Claire De la Cova received an R03 award from the NIH National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The title of her proposal is “Investigation of RASopathy variants and Raf and Actin-Myosin regulation”. One of the many cool things Dr. De la Cova will be doing in this work is identifying how distinct RASopathy genetic variants may lead to disease through common cellular pathways, which could be potential targets for therapeutics.
Professor Ching-Hong Yang presented an invited seminar at the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) on December 30, 2025, titled “Transforming Crop Protection with Natural Metabolites: A New Era of Sustainable Disease Control.” He highlighted RejuAgro A (RAA), a novel natural antimicrobial with a new mode of action and strong field efficacy. During the visit, Professor Yang also met with Director General Dr. Dennis Wang to discuss opportunities for future collaboration. See more.
Dr. Jennier Gutzman’s received an NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Award for the project, “Acquisition of a Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope with Super Resolution and Advanced Acquisition Speed for Research and Education” together with Co-PIs Dr. Chris Quinn, Dr. Dave Zhao, and Dr. Heather Owen. This award will support the acquisition of a state-of-the-art imaging platform that will significantly enhance research capabilities across the department, university, and greater Milwaukee area with valuable educational and training opportunities for students and researchers.
On July 11th, Prof. John Berges competed in the 2026 Milwaukee Dragon Boat Festival (milwaukeedragonboatfest.org/) with the Lakeshore State Park team, “Fishful Thinking”. John and his lab do much of their work on invasive species in Lakeshore State Park and collaborate on public education with the Friends (friendslsp.org/). Other UWM team members included Shauna Edson (Libraries) and Andy Dressel (Engineering…a champion of Estabrook State Park wildlife, signsoflifeinestabrookpark.net/). The team won the gold medal in the Emerald Division.
Biological Sciences NWQ Greenhouse
The Biological Sciences NWQ Greenhouse hosted our 8th Annual Open House in April, allowing the greater UWM community a chance to see both our unique instructional collection with 660 different plant species, and $5 million in USDA, NSF and other funded research.
The doors were opened a little early at 1:55pm, and the Red Elevator lobby was already full of people waiting to explore the facility (or to grab free plants!). During the next 4 hours, we entertained 312 guests, ranging from UWM staff, UWM students from all majors, neighborhood residents and a few families with small children. The wonder on those little faces when they fed blood worms to the Dionaea muscipula or crushed and sniffed the Elettaria cardamomum or even the Meyer lemon was priceless. Many of the UWM students visiting were returning guests, previously visiting the Greenhouse during one of their class exercises. It was nice to see them return with family and friends to show off their newly acquired plant and animal knowledge.
In the 2025-26 school year, the greenhouse supported 1844 UWM students, was toured by over 2700 visitors, and benefited from 280 student volunteer hours. The Greenhouse would not be as beautiful without them!
Mini Museum of Natural History
The Department of Biological Sciences is excited to announce the opening of the Mini Museum of Natural History on Aug 28th! The museum is housed within the cabinets that line the hallway of the first floor of Lapham Hall South and consists of 32 museum-type displays that cover a range of topics in general biology and natural history including natural selection, pollination, invasive species, mimicry, extinction and the fossil record, and more! The Mini Museum is the result of a massive effort to restore and repair our large zoology specimen collection, completed primarily by undergraduate and graduate students from the biology and geology departments. Displays primarily feature our newly restored specimen collection, along with signage, diagrams, and some interactive activities for all to enjoy. Whether you have a minute or an hour to spare, we invite you to explore our Mini Museum and experience the wonders of biology!
