MICHAEL LEVANDOWSKY, Ph.D.

Research Scientist Adjunct Professor of Biology E-mail:  mlevandowsky@pace.edu Phone: (212) 346-1861 Cell: (917) 517-3887

Educational Background
B.A. (Math) Antioch College, Ohio, 1961
M.A. (Zoology) Columbia University, NY, 1965
Ph.D. (Biological Sciences) Columbia University, NY, 1970
M.S. (Mathematics) New York University, NY 1975

>> Selected Publications

I’ve been asking questions of organisms at the Haskins Labs since I got my degree in 1970. My interests are, broadly, the evolution, ecology and behavior of microorganisms, particularly the protistan eukaryotes. Specifically, I’ve worked on mathematical models of communities (Levandowsky and White 1977), statistical description of microbial assemblages (Kaneta et al), chemosensory responses of protists (Levandowsky and Hauser1978), and mathematical aspects of protistan motility (Klafter et al 1991).

Most of my teaching has been elsewhere, with non-science majors. In particular, I’ve taught at the School for Visual Arts since 1979 and developed a number of science courses for those students. One course, in Science and Religion, won a prize from the Templeton Foundation and led to an essay on the debate currently surrounding Darwinian evolution (Levandowsky 2002).

I have recently become involved in the development of a green roof at 1 Pace Plaza, in Pace’s downtown campus.

Grant: “Green Roof Research Center at Pace University”, EPA and NYDEP-$110,000.

Current Projects

• Structure of phytoplankton communities in the lower Hudson-Raritan estuary
• Molecular characterization of protistan plankton communities in the lower Hudson-Raritan estuary
• Sensory biology and behavior of Trichomonas
• Horticultural methods for a green roof: use of urban flora in a model system.