As living creatures, we are all inherently tied to the mechanisms and processes of life on earth. As such, it makes good sense to understand these processes as best we can. This involves studying living organisms at both the molecular and cellular level so we can build up a better picture of the basic building blocks of life. We are interested in genetics and how the expression or repression of particular genes can dictate almost every aspect of an organism. Such insights into genetics and gene engineering are likely to make biotechnology one of the most important sciences of the twenty-first century. On the larger scale, we study the botany and zoology of plants and animals of all sizes from single-celled protists to giant trees and elephants. We study their population dynamics, physiology, neurology and behaviour in order to better understand how they combine to create ecosystems. Within those ecosystems, we study the complex interaction of plants, animals and natural processes that come together to produce the environment we live in.