Aquatic Microbial Ecology Research Lab

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE RESEARCH IN MARINE AND FRESHWATER MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

Steven W. Wilhelm - Professor OF Microbiology

Office: 865-974-0665 Labs: 865-974-0682 or 865-974-4014

OCEANOGRAPHY - LIMNOLOGY - MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

Viral impacts on Aquatic Food Webs
Developing better models for marine biogeochemical cycles
Understanding the causes of Microcystis blooms
Giant viruses in marine systems
incorporating viruses and microbes into climate change models
Toxic cyanobacteria in aquatic systems
Real time quantitative molecular tools for microbial ecology
Microbial genetics, diversity and physiology

Retrieving traps on the RV Tangaroa 2008

Scientists and crew work to clear a spot in the ice to sample - Lake Erie Feb 2007

The Buchan, Zinser and Wilhelm labs 2012

NEWS

Oct 2012		Audrey Matteson's JOVE article on measuring virus production has now had >13,000 views!
Nov 2012		Dr Wilhelm will give the College of Arts & Sciences Pregame showcase talk prior to the UTK-Missouri game Nov 10.
Nov 2012		Dr Wilhelm will give a plenary talk at the New Zealand Microbiological Society's annual meeting
Nov 2012		Dr Wilhelm will give a presentation during the award ceremony and symposium for the University of Otago Research Team Award to the Centre for Chemical and Physical Oceanography
Feb 2013		Congratulations to Chad Effler who represented our lab and the University on The Hill in Nashville and presented his research on virus geochemistry
Mar 2013		Our lab is first in North America to acquire a new Lynx 4000 centrifuge
Mar 2013		Our recent publication in Aquatic Microbial Ecology was chosen as a feature paper
Mar 2013		We are excited to have received 166 applications for our 10 NSF-funded REU positions in the Department. The review committee is working feverishly to complete the first round of offers.
Mar 2013		Congratulations to Jasmin Vazin and Austen Webber - both winners at the 2013 EUReCA competition for undergraduate research
Apr 2013		Congratulations to Kaitlyn Victor for winning a summer undergraduate internship from the UTK Office of Research
Apr 2013		Congratulations to Audrey Matteson, Janet Rowe, Alise Ponsero and other authors of their FEMS Microbiology Ecology paper selected as the Chief Editor's Choice for the May issue.
May 2013		Congratulations to Chad Effler on his win of the Department of Microbiology Undergraduate Research Award and Morgan Steffen, Mohammad Moniruzzaman and Shafer Belisle on their DC White Awards
May 2013		Congratulations to former lab member Dr Melanie Eldridge on her Fulbright award AND her new faculty position
June 2013		The lab will be playing host to the third meeting of the The NIMBioS working group on Ocean Viral Dynamics June 3-5.

PRESS

Jun 2012		Read about science writer and lab alumni in Scientific American
Aug 2012		Check out the 2011 - 2012 Department of Microbiology Newsletter
Aug 2012		Two new NSF funded projects in China are discussed in Tennessee Today
Sept 2012		Our collaborative work with BGSU and Clarkson was covered in Ohio Sea Grant's Twineline
Oct 2012		Our research was featured in a UTK Science Alliance report
Nov 2012		Dr Wilhelm's pregame showcase talk was featured in an article in The Daily Beacon

See Sarah Farnsley's fact sheets for K-5, middle school and secondary school educators on cyanobacteria.

Affiliations

The main home for the lab is the Department of Microbiology at the University of Tennessee. Most of our students are affiliated with this department.

Other departments we are affiliated with:

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology UTK/ORNL Program in Genome Science and Technology Earth & Planetary Sciences

Dr Wilhelm is also the PI of the Department of Microbiology's NSF-Funded REU: Microbial community interactions and Functions

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN... former lab members

Claire Campbell The effects of nutrient limition and cyanophage on heterotrophic microbial diversity (M.Sc. 2012)
Audrey Matteson Quantification and ecological perspectives on cyanophage and aquatic viruses (Ph.D. 2011)
Matthew Saxton Constraints on primary production in Lake Erie (Ph.D. 2011)
Star Loar Seasonal Variation in Lake Erie Picoplankton (M.Sc. 2009)
Janet Rowe Ecological aspects of viruses in marine systems (Ph.D. 2008)
Johanna Rinta-Kanto Biogeography and genetic diversity of toxin producing cyanobacteria in a Laurentian Great Lake (PhD. 2006)
Leo Poorvin The role of viruses in Fe cycling in the World's oceans (Ph.D. 2005)
Julie L. Higgins Virus dynamics in high nutrient - low chlorophyll marine surface waters (M.Sc. 2005)
Cécile E. Mioni Using a bioluminescent bacterial bioreporter to assess iron bioavailability in the ocean (Ph.D. 2004)
Melanie Eldridge The effects of Fe on plankton in HNLC regions of the world's oceans (Ph.D. 2004)
Amanda L. Dean The dynamics, distribution, and activity of viruses in Lake Erie (M.Sc. 2004)
Shannon Pedigo-Eftland The effects of iron on growth and physiology of the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa (M.Sc. 2004)
Johanna Rinta-Kanto The effects of viral size class enrichments on microbial communities in marine systems (M.Sc. 2001)

Former postdoctoral researchers

Dr Anthony Ouellette, currently at Jacksonville University
Dr Renhui Li, currently at the Institute of Hydrology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

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*updated 05/28/2013*