Al-Kaimari, Bassem

Associate Professor

bassem.al-Kaimari@tri-c.edu

(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

natalie.belle@tri-c.edu

(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

roman.boldyreff@tri-c.edu

(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

elaine.brunschwig@tri-c.edu

(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

chris.caprette@tri-c.edu

(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

katherine.gould@tri-c.edu

(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

cathleen.jenkins@tri-c.edu

(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

joseph.koch@tri-c.edu

(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

tomasz.kowalczyk@tri-c.edu

(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

margaret.macdonald@tri-c.edu

(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

steven.leidich@tri-c.edu

(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

jared.lemaster@tri-c.edu

(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

james.lichniak@tri-c.edu

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

kristen.reiter@tri-c.edu

(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

michael.rowan@tri-c.edu

(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

prabhat.sharma@tri-c.edu

(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

erica.stevenson@tri-c.edu

(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

iryna.tsarukyanova@tri-c.edu

(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

elizabeth.vaidya@tri-c.edu

(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

geza.varhegyi@tri-c.edu

(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

peter.wickley@tri-c.edu

(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

sean.williams@tri-c.edu

(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

Anne-Marie.Yunker@tri-c.edu

(216) 987-4633

Department: Biology

Office Location: Metropolitan Campus, MSHC 209D

Education: B.S., Cornell University
Ph.D., Michigan State University