Dr. Alvaro Sanchez
Yale University
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology/Microbial Sciences Institute
Title: Evolutionary Engineering of Microbial Consortia
“In this talk, I will present an overview on recent progress in the application of
evolutionary engineering to microbial consortia. I will discuss the inherent obstacles of applying selection at the group level, and I will also discuss how methods from directed evolution and ideas from quantitative and evolutionary genetics may inspire the development of effective and robust methodologies to engineer microbial consortia from the top-down.”
Dr. Suzanne Ishaq
University of Maine
School of Food and Agriculture
Title: Microbes at the Nexus of Environmental, Biological, and Social Research
Dr. Ishaq received her doctorate in Animal, Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Vermont in 2015 where her graduate study focused on the rumen microbiology of the moose. She held post-doctoral positions at Montana State University, and a research faculty position at the University of Oregon. Since 2019, her lab in Maine focuses on host-associated microbial communities in animals and humans, and, how host and microbes interact in the gut.
In addition to her research on gut microbes, Dr. Ishaq is the founder of the Microbes and Social Equity working group. This group formed to examine, publicize, and promote a research program on the reciprocal impact of social inequality and microbiomes, both human and environmental. Membership is free and open to all.