Biology Faculty

Mark P. Gustafson, doctorate (Ph.D.) from Duke University. Professor and chair of biology, director of Patterson Biology Station at Lake McQueeney, director of environmental studies. Dr. Gustafson teaches aquatic biology, environmental science, comparative anatomy, general ecology, evolution and tropical ecology. He has led students on field trips throughout Texas and to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico and Belize. His current research focuses on the distribution of aquatic insects in the Guadalupe River Basin of Texas and he also has done recent work in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho.

Deborah D.H. Hettinger, doctorate (Ph.D.) from University of California-Davis. Professor and Bohls Professor of Biology; Director, TLU Honors Program. Dr. Hettinger teaches human anatomy and physiology, genetics, neuroscience, and molecular biology. Her research students have used molecular biology techniques to study phylogenetic relationships among insects. She is a Fellow of the Texas Academy of Science. Her areas of expertise are physiology, metabolic regulation, molecular biology, and genetics.

Robert M. Jonas, doctorate (Ph.D.) from University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Professor and holder of the Adolph Krause Professorship in Natural Science. Dr. Jonas did his postdoctoral research at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, supported by a Public Health Service grant. His research in microbial genetics at TLU has been funded by the National Science Foundation and private foundations. He teaches biological systems, microbiology, nutrition, bioethics, advanced microbiology, biochemistry. His areas of expertise are microbiology, biochemistry and recombinant DNA.

Alan W. Lievens, doctorate (M.D.) from University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, doctorate (Ph.D.) from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Associate professor of biology. Dr. Lievens did postdoctoral work at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. He teaches plant biology, advanced plant biology, nutrition, evolutionary biology and biological systems.  His research with students focuses on the plants of Guadalupe County.  Dr. Lievens' areas of expertise are plant taxonomy, botany, and medicine.

William G. "Bill" Squires Jr., doctorate (Ph.D.) from Texas A&M University. Professor of biology, professor of kinesiology, director of the Krost Life Enrichment Program, Elliot Chair in Health, Fitness and Nutrition. Dr. Squires has received funding from NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and many private foundations. He teaches general physiology, human anatomy and physiology, and exercise physiology. His areas of expertise are physiology, exercise physiology, space physiology and SCUBA diving.