Rate My Professor Morgan Vis

Morgan L. Vis is a Professor in the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology at Ohio University, where she also serves as Associate Dean for Research, Faculty, and Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1995 and joined the university in 1996, achieving the rank of full professor in 2008. She previously served as Chair of the Environmental and Plant Biology Department and assumed her associate dean role in January 2022. Her work involves international collaborations with researchers from Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, and she mentors undergraduate students through research projects presented at Ohio University's annual Student Expo.

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.