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University research directory
Research labs at
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Compare 5 listed faculty-led profiles, explore their research interests, and follow the evidence in their selected work. These listings are a starting point for discovery and do not establish recruiting availability.
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Review each lab’s official website and recent publications. Compare the methods used, the questions being asked, and the practical requirements of any published opening. Unclaimed profiles are independently curated; the university has not approved or endorsed them.
How to compare research labs ↗Official university website ↗5 research-led lab profiles
Browse labs by their listed college affiliation
Independently curated · UnclaimedClark L. Gray Research Group
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Clark L. Gray · Professor
How do environmental changes influence rural livelihoods and migration decisions in developing regions? The research applies survey, statistical and demographic methods to link environmental variation with migration and household well-being. Researchers analyze population–environment interactions and use quantitative survey approaches to estimate how resource and climate changes shape livelihoods. The group investigates indigenous livelihoods and land use in the Ecuadorian Amazon through field-based socio-environmental studies and demographic analyses. They develop and teach methods to assess social vulnerability to climate change using spatial and statistical techniques.
Independently curated · UnclaimedDavid W. Pfennig Research Group
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillDavid W. Pfennig · Bland Simpson Distinguished Professor
How does environmentally induced developmental plasticity influence evolutionary diversification and innovation? The lab investigates causes and consequences of developmental (phenotypic) plasticity and its genetic and developmental bases. Researchers test how competition drives trait evolution and whether such evolution facilitates speciation using empirical ecological and evolutionary approaches. The group studies Batesian mimicry to measure natural selection’s role in promoting adaptive resemblance between palatable and dangerous species. They integrate field and laboratory experiments to connect plastic developmental responses with longer-term evolutionary outcomes.
Hurlbert Lab
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillAllen Hurlbert · Professor
How do ecological community structure and species interactions generate repeating patterns of diversity across space and time? The lab uses large-scale citizen science datasets to quantify phenological mismatch between birds and caterpillars to test timing-based ecological hypotheses. The group develops and analyzes simulation models to test hypotheses for the latitudinal diversity gradient and to explore mechanisms generating large-scale diversity patterns. Researchers run eco-evolutionary experiments with Drosophila in collaboration with the Matute lab to test thermal niche limits, competition, and niche conservatism. The lab conducts manipulative experiments and modeling across vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant communities to link processes to observed diversity, composition, turnover, and relative abundance.
Mark A. Peifer Research Group
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillMark A. Peifer · Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor
How does the cell adhesion–cytoskeleton machinery coordinate tissue architecture during development and tumor formation? The lab uses Drosophila genetics and cultured human colon cells to dissect how APC regulates Wnt signaling and the cytoskeleton. Researchers combine confocal live-imaging and fluorescently-tagged proteins to visualize junction–cytoskeleton dynamics during morphogenetic events such as dorsal closure. The group interrogates destruction-complex assembly and APC’s catalytic cycle to explain regulated ß-catenin stability in Wnt signaling. They investigate centrosome functions, mitotic fidelity regulators, checkpoints and apoptosis to understand genome stability mechanisms in epithelial cells.
Independently curated · UnclaimedMorgan Pitelka Research Group
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillMorgan Pitelka · Bernard L. Herman Distinguished Professor
How did material culture and objects shape political authority and social life in early modern Japan? The research analyzes tea culture, ceramics, and warrior sociability to trace social networks and material practices in sixteenth–seventeenth-century Japan. Scholars in the group study printed matter, visual cultures and objects through archival research and comparative history to reconstruct urban life and destruction in medieval Kyoto. They curate and edit primary sources and translations to make early modern correspondence and art accessible for historical analysis. The team produces monographs and edited volumes on Japanese visual and material culture.
Showing 1–5 of 5 labs