Currently the interim associate dean at the College of Science and Mathematics at CSU Fresno, Zechman is a professor of biology there and former chair of its Department of Biology.
He earned his Ph.D. in botany at Louisiana State University and his M.S. at the University of New Hampshire. Zechman’s primary areas of research are molecular phylogenetics, biogeography ecology and biodiversity of marine and freshwater organisms. His molecular phylogenetic studies center on the evolution and ecology of marine and freshwater green algae organisms which are common to the California coast, the vernal pools of the San Joaquin Valley and the streams and rivers of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Zechman is a member of the summer core faculty at the Shoals Marine Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. His external grants include nearly $140,000 from the National Science Foundation for collaborative research in a multi-gene approach to chlorophytan phylogeny, diversity and molecular evolution.
Zechman will succeed professor of mathematics Dale Oliver, who will continue as CNRS interim associate dean until July 1.