Research areas

Research in Bioinformatics includes studies of protein folding and dynamics, DNA and protein sequence analysis techniques, and modelling of evolution and ecosystems. Much of modern evolutionary biology involves computational analyses of genome sequences. The area of systematics (traditionally taxonomy) is now also heavily reliant on bioinformatics analysis.

Topics include:

• Environmental Genomics
• Functional Genomics
• Molecular Ecology
• Neurobiology

View our faculty conducting research in bioinformatics, systematics, and evolution.

The Department was founded largely in the area of aquatic research and field studies, and this research has spanned a wide geographical range as far reaching as the African Great Lakes and Canada’s North, as well as the Great Lakes and Grand River systems. There is also exceptional historic strength in environmental toxicology.

Topics include:

• Aquatic Ecology
• Environmental Genomics
• Fisheries Biology
• Integrated Water Resource Management
• Molecular Ecology
• Phytoremediation

View our faculty conducting research in ecology and environmental biology.

Microbiology is a core strength of the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo, encompassing diverse fields such as environmental and public health microbiology, bioremediation, microbial ecology, virology, and physiology. Leveraging both cultivation-based and cutting-edge cultivation-independent methods like metagenomics, our research explores microbial roles in ecosystems, focusing on community dynamics and interactions. These studies advance innovations in biotechnology, water treatment, waste management, and sustainability. Our interdisciplinary work also informs public policy and drives progress in health, agriculture, and industry.

Topics include:

• Environmental Genomics
• Environmental Microbiology
• Functional Genomics
• Molecular Ecology
• Molecular Microbiology
• Plant-Microbe Interactions

View our faculty conducting research in microbiology.

The Department has been active in Molecular Biology since the advent of recombinant DNA techniques. However, this has been strengthened by a series of hires in the 1990s and 2000s and the techniques of molecular biology now extend throughout research in the Department. The Department is taking a leading role in new research and training initiatives in Synthetic Biology, which the Department defines as the combination of Biology with the principles of Engineering to design and build organisms and biological systems with defined purpose. 

Topics include:

• Environmental Genomics
• Functional Genomics
• Metabolomics
• Molecular Microbiology
• Plant-Microbe Interactions

View our faculty conducting research in molecular genetics.

The combination of animals and plants into a single field that incorporates cell and developmental studies emphasizes the commonalities across the living world. Encouragement of interactions between researchers using similar techniques and experimental approaches can lead to new research advances.

Topics include:

• Animal Physiology
• Cancer Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Immunology
• Metabolomics
• Neurobiology
• Plant Physiology
• Plant Genetics
• Plant-Microbe Interactions
• Reproductive Biology

View our faculty conducting research in physiology, cell and developmental biology.