Dean's research interests are in evolutionary genetics and behavioral ecology of animals, especially amphibians and reptiles and Drosophila fruit flies. He has taught General Genetics at the undergraduate level full-time for over 13 years in addition to other biology courses such as Behavioral Ecology, Molecular Methods, and General Biology. Projects include explorations in diverse fields such as the fitness consequences of variation in mating behavior, changes in natural population and communities over time, and gene expression differences before and after mating.