Richard M. Alvey

Richard M. Alvey is an Associate Professor of Biology at Illinois Wesleyan University. He holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Indiana University and completed post-doctoral research in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Pennsylvania State University.

Research: Dr. Alvey studies viruses of phototrophic prokaryotes, particularly bacteriophages infecting freshwater Cyanobacteria and Rhodobacteraceae. His lab utilizes genomic analysis and bioinformatics to explore viral diversity, evolution, and host adaptation, with a collection of over 30 sequenced bacteriophages.

Teaching: He teaches foundational courses including General Biology (BIOL 101), Microbial World (BIOL 110), and advanced topics like Immunology (BIOL 375).