Dr. Scott Lankford

Dr. Scott Lankford has been a faculty member at UCM since 2006, when he was hired as an assistant professor of biology.  His academic training started in the Midwest at the University of Kansas where he earned his B.S. degree in integrative biology, and completed an undergraduate research program that established his passion for the field of physiology.  He then went on to complete his Ph.D. with emphasis in reproduction at the University of California, Davis. His graduate work involved some of the first studies aimed at understanding the impact of stress on green sturgeon, which at the time was a species of special concern on the west coast of the United States. After completing this degree, he was awarded a USDA postdoctoral fellowship at the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture, where he worked on rainbow trout mRNA expression profiles associated with various physiological characteristics.

Dr. Lankford’s teaching and research interests center on the physiological control of reproduction and muscle performance in fishes, and how those demanding systems interact with the regulatory factors of the physiological stress response.  These topics cross over between wildlife resources management, agriculture production, and concepts relevant to human health, which allows him to sponsor a variety of student research interests in his lab.  His research has been published in several academic journals and has resulted in multiple externally funded grants. He is currently working on a project with the Missouri Department of Conservation, studying reproduction control in Missouri’s State fish, The Paddlefish. He enjoys extending the classroom into the research lab to challenge undergrads to develop skills and specialized knowledge immediately relevant to their future goals.

While at UCM Dr. Lankford has served as graduate coordinator in Biology, the interim Dean of the Honors College, the Director of Graduate Studies, and now the Chair of the School of Natural Sciences.  He has been awarded the top prize in physiology from his graduate program, the Faculty Research Award at UCM, and the Undergraduate Research Mentor of the year award at UCM. He also serves as Secretary for the Missouri Chapter of the American Physiological Society to help promote the field in the Midwest.