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College of Arts and SciencesBiology and Health Science FacultyHans T. Beck | Jane Davis | John K. Lloyd | Carrie L. Morjan | Mark E. ZelmanHans T. Beck Educational Background
Courses Taught
Outside Experiences and Hobbies Hans Beck grew up in Colorado. He earned two baccalaureate degrees in Biology and Environmental Conservation from the University of Colorado, Boulder and completed his Ph.D. in Biology – Plant Sciences at the City University of New York Graduate School. His research was on the taxonomy and economic botany of guaraná, a caffeine-containing stimulant plant of the Amazon. Thereafter, Hans was Project Director and Assistant Curator in the Institute of Economic Botany at the New York Botanical Garden, where he directed several large botanical exploration and natural products research programs funded by government grants and private industry contracts. Hans has published in topics ranging from plant taxonomy to science bibliography. His research interests include plant taxonomy, economic botany, ethnobotany, and conservation biology. Hans has traveled extensively in search of plants for floristic and ethnobotanical research. As an undergraduate student, Hans had the wonderful opportunity to explore the flora of the Galapagos Islands. From there, he has explored the Hawaiian archipelago, the Rocky Mountains, California, the prairies of Illinois, the deciduous forests of the northeastern United States and Canada, the deserts of the Southwestern United States and Mexico, tropical Florida, the Appalachian mountains, the Adirondacks, the Lesser Antillean islands of Dominica, St. Lucia, and Antigua, the upper Orinoco River in Venezuela, the Brazilian Amazon, the highlands and the eastern and western lowlands of Ecuador, the lowlands of eastern Bolivia, the grasslands of Paraguay, the Drakensberg Escarpment of South Africa, parts of Botswana, and much of Thailand. He has done botanical research in various European cities, and he speaks German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Hans is trying to learn French along with his two sons. Hans enjoys hiking and backpacking, TaeKwonDo, shopping for food in local markets, cooking, and photography. He also likes to travel, garden, read, listen to music, and visit museums with his wife. Hans relaxes with his sons by making model railroads, playing dominoes, dueling with Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and solving puzzles together. Hans currently lives in Palatine, Illinois with his family. Before coming to AU in 2006, Hans taught for 10 years in higher education as a biology professor in Illinois and New York. At AU, he advises biology secondary education majors, supervises undergraduate student research in biology, and teaches Biology of Cells, Biology of Organisms, Comparative Botany, Plant Physiology, Understanding Wellness, and the writing intensive course in Biology. Jane Davis Educational Background
Courses Taught
Outside Experiences and Hobbies Dr. Davis was employed by Countryside Veterinary Clinic in Yorkville, Ill., where she is still a part time associate. In 1991, she began teaching at Aurora University in the Math and Science Program. She is now a pro rata instructor teaching Biology of Humans, Pathophysiology, and Understanding Wellness. She is also active in the community, with church and music activities, volunteer work for Heifer Project and especially in her children’s schools. She has received awards for her research, teaching awards at both U of I and Aurora University, and the Best in the West Award from the West Aurora School District. She lives in Aurora with her husband, two sons, and an ever expanding array of animals. In what she calls her free time, she enjoys reading, biking, and finding an excuse to laugh.
Educational Background
Courses Taught
Outside Experiences and Hobbies Currently, John is developing the biogerontology courses in the Health Science major. Students will have the opportunity to interact with elders and conduct physiological and psychological assessment. He enjoys physical activity such as running, hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing. His family includes his wife, Sherry, a daughter, Chelsea, and a son, A.J.
Educational Background
Courses Taught
Outside Experiences and Hobbies Carrie’s research interests include evolutionary ecology, genetics, and behavior. While earning a double major in biology and mathematics at Alma College, she evaluated mate choice patterns in the dimorphic jumping spider, as well as student preferences for the Golden Section (a mathematical proportion thought to be aesthetically pleasing). She did her dissertation on the evolution of sex ratios in the painted turtle, a reptile that exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination. She is particularly interested in whether female turtles may be able to alter their nesting behavior to influence the sex of their offspring. She also was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow in bioinformatics, which involved compiling databases of gene flow estimates from the literature and using them to develop computer simulation models on the rate of spread of advantageous alleles across subdivided populations. Carrie has two children, Carina, age 4 and William, age 2. She enjoys knitting, camping, gardening, and traveling, especially to visit family in Michigan. She particularly enjoys spending time at the family cabin on Lake Huron near Tobermory, Ontario. One of her ongoing "projects" is her old Victorian house which she has been restoring it to its original grandeur.
Educational Background
Courses Taught
Outside Experiences and Hobbies A native of Chicago, Mark Zelman began teaching at Aurora University in 2005. He received his BS in Biology, with minors in Psychology and Chemistry at Rockford College. Mark received his PhD from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Loyola University Chicago, where he used monoclonal antibodies and immunochemistry to study streptococcal and kidney antigens in a mouse model for human autoimmune disease. He continued his training at University of Chicago as a postdoctoral fellow, where he studied molecular cell physiology. Before beginning at AU, Mark was a biology professor, an administrator at Chicago-area colleges, and a medical writer. Mark is lead author of Human Diseases: A Systemic Approach, an introductory pathophysiology textbook. Mark pursues a wide range of interests in biology and he is especially interested in promoting scientific literacy and enhancing K-12 science education. He enjoys bird-watching and camping with his sons, Joe and Tom, and wears out quite a few shoes training for marathons and triathlons. A good day is filled with teaching and learning, challenging work, and, with any luck, balanced with time for running, cycling, cooking (and eating!), writing, reading poetry, and conversation with colleagues and loved ones. Mark lives in Aurora, the City of Light.
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Biology
and Health Science Homepage Program Overview | Student Outcomes | Faculty | Alumni | Photo Album |
Assistant
Professor of Biology
Associate
Professor of Biology
John
K. Lloyd
Assistant Professor of Biology
Associate Professor of Biology