Al-Kaimari, Bassem
Associate Professor
(216) 987-2339
Department: Biology
Office Location: Eastern Campus, EES 2328
Education: B.S., University of Jordan
M.A., Governor’s State University
Belle, Natalie
Associate Professor
(216) 987-5047
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WSS G231B
Education: A.S.S., Northern Virginia Community College
B.S., University of Mary Washington
M.S., George Washington University
M.D., Howard University
Boldyreff, Roman
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-2501
Department: Biology
Office Location: Eastern Campus, EHCT 211N
Education: M.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of West Florida
B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of West Florida
About: Originally a political science major at Michigan State University, Roman Boldyreff enlisted in the Marine Corps at the end of the Vietnam War and was stationed at Marine Barracks, Subic Bay. He started taking biology classes in his off time through LaVerne University.
Boldyreff was honorably discharged in August 1974 in Los Angeles. He also attended Coastal Carolina Community College, DeAnza College and the University of West Florida, where he earned a B.S. and M.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology.
In 1983, Boldyreff began teaching biology, chemistry and physics at Century High School and worked for the Escambia County School District in Florida for 18 years. He was also an adjunct instructor at Pensacola Junior College. Boldyreff came to Tri-C in 2001.
Brunschwig, Elaine
Professor
(216) 987-5192
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A109
Education: B.S. in Biology, The Ohio State University
Ph.D. in Immunology, Case Western Reserve University
Caprette, Christopher
Associate Professor
(216) 987-5475
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A115
Education: B.S. in Biology, Cleveland State University
M.S. in Biology, Cleveland State University
Ph.D. in Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University
Conaway Mavroidis, Cynthia
Assistant Professor
cynthia.conaway-mavroidis@tri-c.edu
(216) 987-4392
Department: Biology
Office Location: Metropolitan Campus, MSHC 209-C
Education: B.S., Eastern Michigan University
M.S., Cleveland State University
Freer-Prokop, Margot
Associate Professor
margot.freer-prokop2@tri-c.edu
(216) 987-5649
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A111
Education: B.S., University of Mary Washington
Ph.D., Cleveland State University
Gould, Katherine
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-4044
Department: Biology
Office Location: Metropolitan Campus, MHCS 209A
Education: B.A. in History, University of California, Riverside
M.S. in Biology, California State University, Northridge
About: Katherine Gould is known for her silly memes and passion for weird biology. After a lifetime in the Los Angeles area, Gould moved to Cleveland in 2022 and discovered bizarre things such as "snow," "weather" and "affordable housing."
She is a fan of the Guardians, Dodgers and Cavaliers. She volunteers with the Cleveland Metroparks and can often be found hiking very slowly, taking pictures of every flower and insect.
Jenkins, Cathleen
Professor
(216) 987-5054
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A110
Education: B.S., University of Akron
M.S., University of Akron
Ph.D., Kent State University
Koch, Joseph
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-5161
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A209
Education: M.S. in Biology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
About: Joseph Koch enjoys studying and teaching all topics within biology — particularly ecology, zoology, phylogeny and cell biology. He is also passionate about exercise, hiking, birding and rock climbing.
Kowalczyk, Tomasz
Associate Professor
(216) 987-3891
Department: Biology
Office Location: Westshore Campus, SHCS 250C
Education: B.S., Unlwersytet Warszawski (Poland)
Ph.D., Akademia Medyczna w Lublinie (Poland)
MacDonald, Margaret
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-5247
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A213
Education: M.S., University of Florida
Ph.D. Clemson University
About: Margaret MacDonald has loved biology for as long as she can remember. While insects are her favorite, she also enjoys teaching human-based biology courses. She teaches multiple nonmajor courses such as Human Biology, Insect Biology and Cell and DNA, and major courses such as Biochemistry, Anatomy and Physiology I.
Leidich, Steven
Associate Professor
(216) 987-2394
Department: Biology
Office Location: Eastern Campus, EHCT 211B
Education: B.S., Bowling Green State University
Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
LeMaster, Jared
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-2469
Department: Biology
Office Location: Eastern Campus, EHCT 211C
Education: B.S., Kent State University
Ph.D., The Ohio State University
Lichniak, James
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-5568
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A221A
Education: B.S., Case Western Reserve University
P.A., University of Alabama, Birmingham
D.P.M., Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine
London, Richard
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-4255
Department: Biology
Office Location: Metropolitan Campus, MSHC 216
Education: A.A.S., Florida Keys Community College
B.S., Antioch College
M.S., University of Michigan
Reiter, Kristen
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-5609
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus WHCS A214
Westshore Campus SHCS 250E
Education: B.S. Kent State University
B.S. Kent State University
M.S. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
About: Kristen Reiter has been teaching at Tri-C since 2022; previously, she taught at Stark State College and Kent State University at Stark. She grew up here in northeast Ohio and has research interests in functional morphology, previously publishing on holographic iridescent beetles and butterfly and fly mouthparts.
Rowan, Michael
Associate Professor
(216) 987-2368
Department: Biology, Earth Science, and Plant Science
Office Location: Eastern Campus, EHCT 211H
Education: Ph.D., The Ohio State University
M.S., The Ohio State University
B.S., John Carroll University
About: Michel Rowan regularly teaches courses in three departments: biology, earth science and plant science.
Sharma, Prabhat
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-5284
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A125
Education: B.S., University of Delhi
M.S., Jiwaji University
M.D., Our Lady of Fatima
Ph.D., Jiwaji University
Stevenson, Erica
Associate Professor
(216) 987-5918
Department: Biology
Office Location: Westshore Campus, SHCS 250D
Education: B.S., Ohio Northern University
Ph.D., Kent State University
Tsarukyanova, Iryna
Associate Professor
(216) 987-5526
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A106
Education: M.S., Odessa National University (Ukraine)
Ph.D., Zablotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology (Ukraine)
Ph.D., Cleveland State University
Vaidya, Elizabeth
Professor
(216) 987-3945
Department: Biology
Office Location: Westshore Campus, SHCS 250F
Education: B.A., Transylvania University
Ph.D., University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
About: Elizabeth Vaidya spent a large part of her career working as a scientist studying the neural circuitry of motivation and addiction, but her passion is teaching. She teaches Principles of Biology I and II and Anatomy and Physiology I and II at Tri-C.
Varhegyi, Geza
Associate Professor
(216) 987-5240
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WHCS A107
Education: A.S., Cuyahoga Community College
B.S., Cleveland State University
M.S., Cleveland State University
Ph.D., Cleveland State University
Wickley, Peter
Associate Professor
(216) 987-5435
Department: Biology
Office Location: Western Campus, WBT C106
Education: B.S., Grand Valley State University
Ph.D., Kent State University
Williams, Sean
Assistant Professor
(216) 987-2097
Department: Biology
Office location: Eastern Campus, 211F
Education: B.A., Ohio Wesleyan University
Ph.D., Michigan State University
About: Sean Williams taught as a lecturer for three years at Tri-C before starting as an Assistant Professor in 2025. Prior to Tri-C, he taught as a Visiting Professor for three years at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. His teaching interests lie in introductory biology courses for majors and non-majors, as well as upper level courses that focus on ecology, evolution, and behavior (plug for his Ornithology course!). As an ornithologist, his research investigates mistnet capture biases, Aythya duck ecology, field identification, and morning flight. Sean considers his greatest accomplishments to be his students that have gone on to have fulfilling careers. In his free time, Sean enjoys birding, fishing, vegetable gardening, and spending time with his wife, daughter, and dog.
Yunker, Anne Marie
Associate Professor
(216) 987-4633
Department: Biology
Office Location: Metropolitan Campus, MSHC 209D
Education: B.S., Cornell University
Ph.D., Michigan State University