Alternative Community States in Floral Microbes

Dr. Tadashi Fukami, a professor of biology and Earth system science at Stanford University, is an ecologist known for exploring complex plant and animal communities with small-scale experiments. At Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve in California, he studies the interactions between sticky monkey flowers, the hummingbirds and insects that pollinate them, and the colonies of microbes that live in the nectar of these flowers.

Fukami's primary research interest is historical contingency in ecological community assembly. He earned his Ph.D. in 2003 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, under Jim Drake and Dan Simberloff. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research in New Zealand and then as Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa before joining the Stanford University faculty in 2008. While he was an undergraduate student at Waseda University in Tokyo, he spent one year as an exchange student at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Tadashi Fukami's Lab Website

Plant-Microbe Interactions in a Changing World

Dr. Kerri Crawford is an associate professor of biology and biochemistry at the University of Houston. Her research focuses on understanding the consequences of global changes for ecological communities with a particular emphasis on the role plant-microbe interactions play in structuring plant communities.

Kerri Crawford's Faculty Website

Aquatic Insects Transform Terrestrial Ecosystems: Lessons From Subarctic Iceland

Dr. Matt McCary is an assistant professor of BioSciences at Rice University. McCary studies the relationship between soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning within the context of global change. His multidisciplinary research program includes observational and experimental studies, mathematical and statistical modeling, and molecular techniques. The questions he investigates involve invasive species and urbanization.

Matt McCary's Website

How the Early Bird Catches the Worm: Co-evolution Between Migratory Behavior and Beak Morphology in a Hummingbird

Dr. Noah Whiteman is a professor of integrative biology and molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Essig Museum of Entomology. He studies the ancient battles in Darwin’s “war of nature,” where many of the chemicals we use and abuse were made. The evolutionary biologist is the author of the book “Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature's Toxins — from Spices to Vices”.

Noah Whiteman's website