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Assoc Prof Joe Bailey
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Assoc Prof Joe Bailey and Dr Jen Schweitzer are "community
geneticists" or "community ecologists" who recently moved from a
thriving
lab at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville to join the
School of Plant Science at UTAS.
Community
genetics is a relatively new discipline and Joe and Jen are
bubbling over with ideas for studies of Australian systems. Joe
holds a prestigious
ARC Future Fellowship. He describes himself as
an evolutionary ecologist with broad interests in how species
interactions link genes and ecosystems, how natural selection
operates in a community context, and how these processes scale
geographically and with genetic resolution (i.e., small molecular
differences to subpopulation structure). He takes a holistic,
integrative view of natural systems; he has worked with native and
introduced plants and herbivores, from microbes to mammals, linking
genes to ecosystems. Joe will be giving a public seminar in
the UTAS School of Plant Science on Friday September 24,
2010. The talk, entitled "
From genes to ecosystems: a
synthesis across systems and environments", will give a broad
overview of Joe's research interests and activities. You can
have a sneak preview by
clicking
on this link to the abstract.
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Dr Jen Schweitzer
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Jen's research is broadly centred on the genetic interactions
between species and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of
these interactions for ecosystem processes. She focuses on
the interactions of dominant plant species, their associated
herbivores, soil microbial communities and the linkages to carbon,
phosphorus and nitrogen cycling. To date, Jen's studies have
focussed on plant-soil feedbacks in poplar, aspen, oak and tulip
poplar forests, but is looking forward to expanding her research
interests to include eucalypt communities and other native
Australian ecosystems. Already Jen has commenced projects on the
ecosystem consequences of evolutionary divergence in Eucalyptus
globulus, examining how local adaptation within a species can
change ecosystem properties such as biodiversity, soil carbon
storage and overall soil fertility. Upcoming projects include
an investigation of the genetic basis of plant–soil
interactions and carbon and nitrogen cycling; she will also be
investigating the role of climate change on common plant traits
that can influence flammability, herbivory and rates of
decomposition. All Jen's studies have applied and theoretical
implications for gaining a better understanding of the importance
of both species and genetic diversity to a diverse array of
ecosystem processes. Jen recently gave a public seminar at the UTAS
School of Plant Science (Friday 20 August 2010) - "The
ecosystem consequences of plant genetic variation" - and
you can get a brief overview of what she said by reading her
abstract here.
Both Joe and Jen are keen to develop broad research programs in the
southern hemisphere. They are always open to creative,
interdisciplinary collaborations on a variety of topics ... so feel
free to contact Joe Bailey or
Jen
Schweitzer with your community genetics/ecology questions and
ideas!
Biobuzz issue twelve, August 2010
