James Wee joined the Department of Biological Sciences in 1988. Dr. Wee's research focuses on molecular systematics and the evolution and ecology of golden-brown algae using molecular and morphological methods. Current interests focus on the role of crude oil contamination and salinity on chain-forming diatoms and synurophyte flagellates in the Lake Pontchartrain basin estuary and coastal Gulf of Mexico. This new research effort utilizes various microscopic (electron, fluorescent and DIC microscopy) and molecular (quantitavie PCR, DNA barcoding) methods with field sampling and laboratory experiments of clonal cultures isolated from the estuary.
Degrees
Ph.D., Iowa State University, 1981
Classes Taught
- Cells & Heredity
- Biology of Organisms
- Aquatic Microbiology
- Biology of Protists
- Evolution for non-majors
Areas of Expertise
Botany, Phylogenetics and Taxonomy, Protists, Chrysophytes, Microbiology, Molecular Biology