- Biology Department
- Pre-Health Advisory Committee
- GIS Center
- Medical Laboratory Science
- Museum of the Earth Sciences
- Mathematics and Statistics
- REALISE
- Chemistry Department
- Radford University Planetarium
- Department of Physics
- Anthropological Sciences
- Geology
- Selu Observatory
- Center for Information Security
- Forensic Science Institute
- Biomedical Science
- Geospatial Science
- School of Computing and Information Sciences
- MS in Data And Information Management
Dr. Tara Pelletier
Assistant Professor
Office: 279 Center for the Sciences
Lab: 266 Center for the Sciences
Box 6931, Radford University
Radford, VA 24142
Tel: (540) 831-5146
E-mail: tpelletier@radford.edu
Courses Taught
- BIOL 105 - Biology for Health Sciences
- BIOL 231 - Genetics, Evolution, and Development
- BIOL 419 - Introduction to Bioinformatics
- BIOL 425 - Evolution
- BIOL 450 - Molecular Biology
- BIOL 460 - Advanced Seminar in Biology
- BIOL 481 - Introduction to Computational Biology
About
Areas of interest: big data, biodiversity, biogeography, computational biology, conservation, genomics, population genetics, phylogeography, salamanders, systematics
I am broadly interested in the eco-evolutionary processes that have shaped current biodiversity patterns. My lab works to integrate various types of data (genetic, geographic, environmental, life history, and morphological) to understand these complex processes. Collaborations with those from other sub-disciplines in biology are a great way to answer these questions.
There are several big datasets that I have aggregated over the last few years that lend themselves easily to various research projects in computational biology. I am happy to discuss developing projects in ecology and evolution that focus on any organism from viruses to rotifers to large mammals.
We conduct local fieldwork with the aquatic ecology lab to sample water and soil samples to estimate biodiversity by sequencing the DNA found in environmental samples. We also sequence DNA in targeted insect and salamander species to estimate genetic diversity and dispersal for conservation purposes. Ecological niche modeling is also an active area of research in my lab.
The skills developed using computational methods and statistics in biology transfer to all areas of scientific work so I strive to include hands-on practice in all areas of teaching and mentoring.
Please contact me if you are interested in working in my lab. Below is my website, and please check out these posts for tips on doing undergraduate research:
https://research.berkeley.edu/how-cold-email-professor
https://www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday/201505/Education/Tips/
Group photo from the phylogatR data science workshop at the Mountain Lake Biological Station in VA, where undergraduate research students from my lab interacted with researchers from across the globe.