Rate My Professor Morgan Vis

Dr. Vis specializes in freshwater algal systematics, ecology, and evolution. Her laboratory conducts field research and DNA sequencing, including high-throughput sequencing of organellar genomes, to investigate the systematics, phylogeography, and evolutionary relationships of freshwater red algae. She also studies stream algal biofilm communities as bioindicators of water quality, focusing on acid mine drainage impacts and stream remediation effectiveness. Key publications include the co-authored book Freshwater Red Algae: Phylogeny, Taxonomy, and Biogeography (Springer Nature, 2022) with O. Necchi Jr.; "Phylogeny of the Batrachospermales (Rhodophyta) Inferred from rbcL and 18S Ribosomal DNA Gene Sequences" (Vis et al., 1998); "Molecular and Morphological Characterization of Ten Polar and Near-Polar Strains within the Oscillatoriales (Cyanobacteria)" (Casamatta et al., 2005); "Comparison of Benthic Diatom Assemblages from Streams Draining Abandoned and Reclaimed Coal Mines and Nonimpacted Sites" (Verb & Vis, 2000); and "Development of a Diatom Index of Biotic Integrity for Acid Mine Drainage Impacted Streams" (Zalack et al., 2010). She received the 2018 Ohio University Presidential Research Scholar award for excellence in life and biomedical sciences and has two algal taxa named in her honor: the genus Visia (Rhodophyta) and Anagnostidinema visiae (Cyanobacteria). Vis serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Phycology.