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Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

	J. Michael Beman Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences Biogeochemistry Microbial ecology Oceanography Global environmental change	mbeman@ucmerced.edu (209) 228-4713 Full Profile
	A. Carolin Frank Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences The Plant Microbiome, including: Function, diversity, and dispersal Forest tree microbiomes Nitrogen fixation Bacteria and fungi Genomics and metagenomics Ecosystem implications	cfrank3@ucmerced.edu (209) 228-4153 Full Profile
	Stephen C. Hart Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences Professor Hart's research explores the controls of biogeochemical processes and productivity in managed and wildland terrestrial ecosystems using methods such as: Ecological genetics to isotopic analyses Computer simulation modeling Elucidate the biotic and abiotic factors that regulate terrestrial ecosystem structure and function His research group is currently investigating: Biological and geochemical controls on ecosystem development along a three million year, semi-arid soil chronosequence Influence of the genetics of dominant plants on ecosystem processes Effects of forest restoration treatments (e.g., thinning with or without prescribed fire) and wildfire on ecosystem carbon and water balance, soil microbial communities, and belowground processes Efficacy of insect communities as indicators of forest ecosystem health Utility of the 15N natural abundance signature of soil microbes as an integrator of nitrogen cycling processes Impact of climatic change on soil-plant-atmosphere interactions; and the effects of water diversion on riparian forest	shart4@ucmerced.edu (209) 228-4656 Full Profile
	Jessica Blois Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences Ecological and evolutionary responses to past, recent and future environmental change, using approaches such as: -paleoecology -niche/community modeling -phylogenetics/phylochronology	jblois@ucmerced.edu (209) 228-2256 Full Profile
	Jason Sexton Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences Plant adaptation Species range limits Biological invasions Biological responses to global change Evolutionary conservation science Human cultural adaptive capacity	jsexton2@ucmerced.edu (209) 228-2426 Full Profile
	Emily Moran Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences Dispersal, local adaptation and the interplay between ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental change in plants.	emoran5@ucmerced.edu (209) 228-2423 Full Profile
	Justin Yeakel Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences	jyeakel@ucmerced.edu Full Profile
	Emily Jane McTavish Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences Evolution, phylogenetics, genomics, computational biology	ejmctavish@ucmerced.edu (209) 228-3453 Full Profile
	Gordon Bennett Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences	gbennett2@ucmerced.edu Full Profile
	Mark Sistrom Assistant Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences Professor Sistrom works broadly across a number of bacterial and viral systems to explore evolutionary hypotheses using high throughput sequencing and bioinformatics methods. In particular, he is interested in: How microbial populations change over space and time. What selective pressures lead to emergent disease. How the evolutionary properties of microbes can be exploited to manage or eliminate disease. He is interested in collaborative projects that look at pertinent evolutionary questions in a range of biological systems using big data approaches.	msistrom@ucmerced.edu Full Profile
	Michael N. Dawson Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences Millions of species demonstrate that evolution happens, but few illuminate the process. Professor Dawson's lab focuses on elucidating the origins, maintenance, and loss of marine biodiversity, from molecular to ecosystem levels. His specific interests are: How molecular variation explains and causes differences between individuals, populations, species, and higher taxa How the environment shapes and is shaped by genetic, organismal, population, and community variation His lab's work scales from micro- to macro-evolution and integrates biological and physical sciences. Topic areas include: Adaptation, ecological genetics and evolutionary ecology Population genetics, phylogeography, biogeography and phylogenetics Speciation, systematics and taxonomy Behavior and morphology Climate change, invasive species and marine protected areas	mdawson@ucmerced.edu (209) 228-4056 Full Profile