Organismal ecology focuses on how individual organisms interact with their environments through behavior, physiology, morphology, and adaptation. Researchers in this area study the traits that influence how species survive, reproduce, and respond to changing conditions.
This work may include questions about how insects use pheromones to attract mates, how symbiotic relationships help organisms acquire energy and nutrients, or how particular traits support adaptation to environmental stressors such as climate change. By examining ecological processes at the level of the organism, this emphasis area helps reveal the mechanisms that shape broader patterns in nature.
Related Faculty
Jared Ali
- Associate Chair, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
- Director of the Center for Chemical Ecology
Behavior and chemical ecology of multi-trophic interactions, including plant responses to below-ground herbivory and. . .
Paul Bartell
- Associate Professor of Avian Biology
The regulation of biological clocks in birds at the systems level.
Ottar Bjornstad
- Huck Chair of Epidemiology
- Distinguished Professor of Entomology and Biology
Population ecology and population dynamics with particular emphasis on mathematical and computational aspects
Isabella Cattadori
- Professor of Biology
Immuno-epidemiology of co-infection, how host immunity modulates parasite interactions and transmission and how host. . .
Matthew Ferrari
- Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics
- Huck Career Development Professor
Public Health, Quantitative Epidemiology, Population Ecology, Statistics, Computational and Mathematical Biology
Kara Fikrig
- Assistant Professor of Vector Ecology
The intersection of entomology and public health, with a focus on understanding the drivers and barriers of mosquito. . .
Jill Hamilton
- Director of the Schatz Center for Tree Molecular Genetics
- Associate Director, Plant Institute
Genomic basis of climate adaptation, conservation, and restoration genetics.
Kevin Hockett
- Huck Early Career Chair
- Associate Professor of Microbial Ecology
Biological Control, Biology and Ecology of Plant-Microbe and Plant-Environment Interactions, Microbial Ecology and Population. . .
Peter Hudson
- Former Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences
- Willaman Professor of Biology
Population dynamics of infectious diseases in wildlife and the dynamics of parasite community structure.
Hidetoshi Inamine
- Assistant Research Professor
Effects of changing environment (e.g., disturbance) on ecological communities and invasion; theoretical ecology; microcosm. . .
Jason Keagy
- Assistant Research Professor of Wildlife Behavioral Ecology
Cognitive ecology (with studies at genome, individual, and species levels). I am particularly interested in applications for. . .
Jesse Lasky
- Professor of Biology
- Director, Penn State (PAC) Herbarium
Ecological and evolutionary genomics, genetic and ecophysiological basis of adaptation to environmental stress, evolutionary. . .
Margarita Lopez-Uribe
- Associate Professor of Entomology
How environmental change and human management shape bee health and long-term persistence of their populations in agricultural. . .
Carolyn Mahan
- Professor of Biology (Altoona)
The study of biodiversity in threatened ecosystems, the effects of human-modified landscapes on wildlife, and behavioral. . .
Rob Mitchell
- Associate Professor of Chemical Ecology
Entomology, chemical ecology, and chemoreception.
