Rate My Professor Timothy Evans

Timothy Evans is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He received a B.S. in Biology from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania in 2001 and a Ph.D. from Indiana University Bloomington in 2006, where his doctoral research examined wing vein patterning in Drosophila melanogaster under Joe Duffy. Evans then conducted postdoctoral research from 2006 to 2013 in Greg Bashaw's laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on axon guidance in the Drosophila embryonic nervous system. He joined the University of Arkansas faculty as an assistant professor in 2013 and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2019.

Evans directs the Evans Laboratory, which investigates genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms governing the assembly of animal nervous systems during embryonic development. Using Drosophila melanogaster and other insects as models, the lab applies molecular genetic techniques to manipulate genes and visualize cellular processes in developing embryos, revealing conserved principles of neuronal connectivity from simple insect brains to complex vertebrate systems. His studies address topics such as Robo family receptor functions in midline repulsion and Slit-independent axon guidance. Key publications include "Evolutionary conservation of midline repulsive signaling by Robo family receptors in flies and mice" (Developmental Biology, 2025), "Slit-independent guidance of longitudinal axons by Drosophila Robo3" (2025), "A cis-regulatory sequence of the selector gene vestigial drives the evolution of wing scaling in Drosophila species" (2023), "Structure-function studies of Drosophila Robo3 immunoglobulin domains using CRISPR gene replacement" (2023), and "Characterization of enhancer fragments in Drosophila robo2" (2022). Evans has earned over 450 citations for his work. Awards include the Fulbright College Connor Faculty Fellowship in 2016 and a $440,000 NIH grant for Drosophila neural development research. His lab has mentored Ph.D. students to successful thesis defenses, such as Piyasi Ghosh in 2025 on frazzled gene functions in axon guidance.