Michael Valachas is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Science and Mathematics and the International Honors Program. He holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Molecular virology from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He has extensive teaching experience in a broad variety of fields stemming from his research interests that span across a diverse range of disciplines and techniques. He is a former Director of the ACG Center of Excellence in Sustainability. His main research interests focus on speciation and uses a variety of model organisms across all living domains to investigate evolutionary history and phylogeny. Currently he is involved in the investigation of the ecology and adaptation of introduced species.