Mark S. Wilson, Ph.D.
Research Interests:
I am broadly interested in the use of molecular approaches to address environmental questions, particularly questions concerning microbial ecology and diversity. This includes gene biogeography, gene expression, enzyme activity, microscale localization, physiological analyses, and genetic characterization of individual cells and populations in field sites. I am interested in interdisciplinary studies, for example with ecologists, civil / environmental engineers and analytical chemists who are applying biological technologies to environmental problems.
One of the projects that I'm working on with undergraduates at HSU concerns the isolation and genetic characterization of naphthalene-degrading bacteria from Humboldt Bay. We are using a variety of approaches to understand the diversity of organisms and genes responsible for degradation of PAHs in marine and estuarine systems, with an emphasis on the evolution of conjugative catabolic plasmids involved in biodegradation processes.
In collaboration with Dr. Patricia Siering at HSU, I'm characterizing microorganisms living in high temperature, low pH environments within Lassen Volcanic National Park. While we have studies going on throughout the park, we are particularly interested in Boiling Springs Lake, a large 55°C pH 1.7 lake in the Warner Springs Valley. We're collaborating with Dr. Gordon Wolfe at Chico State (a eukaryotic microbiologist with interests in primary production) and Dr. Kenneth Stedman at Portland State University (a virologist interested in extreme environments and viruses of extremophiles).
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