Archives

Benjamin R. Grady

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.S., University of Northern Iowa-Cedar Falls
• B.A., University of Northern Iowa-Cedar Falls

Nature has always been a central part of my life. I was lucky enough to turn this passion for the natural world into a career as a scientist and educator in the field of biology. My areas of research focus broadly on evolution, ecology and conservation. Specifically, I study a group of fascinating plants that inhabit some of the most inhospitable North American desert areas, the wild buckwheat (Eriogonum). Additionally, the complexity and rarity of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem have always interested me. Currently, students in my research lab at Ripon College are investigating the diversity of insect pollinators (bees, butterflies, etc.) in prairies of Wisconsin. There is still a lot we can learn from the species around us!

At Ripon College, I teach courses ranging from Introductory Biology and Environmental Studies to advanced courses in Plant Diversity, Flora and Vegetation, and Conservation Biology.

Steven Martin

• Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University
• M.A., Colorado State University
• A.B., Ripon College

Memuna Khan

• Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic & State University , Blacksburg, Virginia (biology)
• B.A., University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (biology with honors)

I joined the faculty as an avian ecologist in 2006. My education started in Brooklyn, New York reading Ranger Rick, watching urban wildlife, and learning about the outdoors as a Girl Scout. I landed in Wisconsin after earning an undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago (B.A. Biology 1992), a doctorate at Virginia Tech (Ph.D. 1999), and a post-doctoral position at Princeton University. As an undergraduate, courses in Field Ecology and Animal Behavior introduced me to the wonderful world of birds and I haven’t gotten bored yet.

At Ripon my students and I study the behavior and ecology of a local population of Eastern Bluebirds. Since 2007, we have individually color-marked adult and nestling bluebirds and tracked their histories of movement and reproduction. My students have examined the impact of mealworm supplementation on nestling growth rates, double brooding, and overwintering behavior. These students have presented their work at undergraduate research symposia held by Sigma Xi and Beta Beta Beta, national science and biological honor societies. My current research interests include a study of the movement of overwintering bluebirds at feeders in Ripon, and the efficacy of wren guards in preventing House Wren predation on bluebird nests.

At Ripon I teach Vertebrate Zoology, Biology of Birds, Animal Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, Scientific Writing, Environmental Studies, and Catalyst 120. I also take students on In Focus courses on Conservation and Biodiveristy in Costa Rica.

Paul Jeffries

• Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Minnesota
• M.A. in Philosophy, University of Minnesota
• M.A.R. in Theological Ethics, Yale Divinity School, Yale University

Soren Hauge

• Ph.D. in Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.A. in Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• B.A., in Economics, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota

I’m an applied microeconomist with a liberal arts background who likes to connect the theories and data of economics with the wider world of people and ideas. I grew up mainly in Pennsylvania and Upper Michigan before studying in a liberal arts college in Minnesota and graduate school in Wisconsin. Travel across the world and research in several Latin American countries inform my teaching of international and development economics courses. In environmental economics and history of economic thought, I connect economics with other ways of seeing the world in natural science and history. I also dig into the big picture of economic concepts and data with students in principles of macroeconomics and intermediate macroeconomics, as well as Catalyst seminars. My two children grew up in Ripon where my wife and I enjoy living.

Colleen Byron

• Ph.D., analytical chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• B.A., chemistry, College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota