Professor, Department of Biology
Environmental Studies Program
Institute of Ecology and Evolution
University of Oregon

“Nature versus Nurture in the Post-Microbiome World”
FRIDAY, APRIL 7 • 2:45-4:00p

Brendan Bohannan is fascinated with the diversity of microbial life, and the interactions between humans and microbes. His research focuses on ecology and evolution molecular biology and genetics. Bohannan’s research topics include testing ecological and evolutionary theory using microbial model systems, as well as applying ecological and evolutionary theory to microbes in nature.

Bohannan is coauthor of “Local Migration Promotes Competitive Restraint in a Host–Pathogen ‘Tragedy of the Commons'” (with Benjamin Kerr, Claudia Neuhauser & Antony M. Dean, Nature, 2006), “From Structure to Function: The Ecology of Host-Associated Microbial Communities” (with Courtney J. Robinson & Vincent B. Young, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2010), “Biodiversity and Biogeography of the Atmosphere” (with Ann M. Womack & Jessica L. Green, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 2010), “Architectural Design Influences the Diversity and Structure of the Built Environment Microbiome” (with Steven W. Kembel, Evan Jones, Jeff Kline, Dale Northcutt, Jason Stenson, Ann M. Womack, G. Z. Brown & Jessica L. Green, The ISME journal, 2012), “Biodiversity at Twenty-Five Years” (with Nicolae Morar & Ted Toadvine, Ethics, Policy & Environment, 2015), and “Editorial: The Role of Microbial Communities in Tropical Ecosystems” (with Silvia Pajares & Valeria Souza, Frontiers in Microbiology, 2016). He is currently working on a monograph, The Ecology of Microorganisms (Princeton University Press, under contract).

The Bohannan Research Group is focused on the causes and consequences of microbial biodiversity. The lab’s recent work can be divided into three areas: the study of the fundamental drivers of biodiversity and how these apply to microorganisms, the response of microbial biodiversity to environmental change, and microbial biodiversity in human-dominated environments.

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