Departments & Research Units

Meet the newest members of the Faculty of the School of Biological Sciences
2006-2007

Hans Bernard
Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry

Celia Goulding
Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry

Dr Goulding received her undergraduate degree from Kings College London, UK in Chemistry and Mathematics. She pursued a PhD. in physical organic chemistry at the same institution in the UK before taking a postdoctoral position in enzymology at the University of Michigan with Dr. Rowena Matthews. Celia then became research faculty at UCLA under the supervision of Dr. David Eisenberg as head of the UCLA fraction of the TB structural genomics consortium (TBSGC).

Dr. Goulding is continuing her research into Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is still an active member of the TBSGC. Her principal research focuses on utilizing proteomic and crystallographic techniques to elucidate and characterize new systems of protein complexes in M. tuberculosis, in the hope of finding novel anti-TB drug targets. Celia’s primary system of interest at present is a novel mycobacterial heme uptake pathway that she recently discovered.

Catherine Loudon
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Catherine Loudon received her undergraduate degree in biophysics from Brown University and her Ph.D. from Duke University with Steve Vogel and Bill Conner as her mentors. She completed postdoctoral studies at Cornell with Tom Eisner and at Berkeley with Mimi Koehl. She first went to Kansas State University and then the University of Kansas, where she was on the faculty from 1996 through 2006.

Her academic area is biomechanics. Her recent research concentrates on fluid flow around insect antennae and the sensory physiology associated with the resulting flow patterns. In addition, she is characterizing the mechanical properties of insect antennae and how these properties affect the ability of antennae to obtain information (mechanical and chemical) about their environment.

Adam Martiny
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (Split appointment with Earth System Science)

Adam Martiny earned his Ph.D. at the Technical University of Denmark and did postdoctoral work at M.I.T.

He studies marine microorganisms, particularly cyanobacteria.  Marine cyanobacteria like Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are widespread in the ocean and may contribute up to 10% of global photosynthesis. Thus, the response and potential feedback by these taxa to climate change is likely to have a major impact on ocean ecosystems and climate as a whole.  The overarching questions driving his research are:  What are the mechanisms of bacterial adaptation and evolution to global climate change?  Will adaptation and evolution of Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus to future environments have a positive or negative effect on global environmental problems (e.g. CO2 concentration in the atmosphere)?  Can we utilize this knowledge to develop novel strategies to mitigate global change?

Jennifer Martiny
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Jennifer Martiny received her B.S. in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution at UC San Diego. She completed her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at Stanford University, where she investigated the maintenance and distribution of biological diversity and its connections to human well-being. After postdoctoral research at Stanford, she established a lab in microbial ecology as an Assistant Professor at Brown University.

Currently she is investigating the mechanisms underlying microbial diversity patterns and how this diversity affects ecosystem processes. Her lab uses a combination of approaches, from genetic surveys of natural communities to field experiments and microcosm studies. She studies a variety of systems including salt marshes, marine bacteria and viruses, and plant pathogens.

Robert Reed
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Robert Reed completed his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona and a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University.

He studies the evolution and development of butterfly wing patterns. His research takes a highly integrative approach to understanding the diversification of patterns in nature, including elements of field biology, genomics, and cell and developmental biology.

Kevin Thornton
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Kevin completed his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and completed his postdoctoral work at Cornell.

His research focuses on the evolutionary genetics of Drosophila. He is particularly interested in the role of gene duplications in genome evolution. He also develops and tests methods to make inferences about population history from genetic data, with an eye towards application in Drosophila and humans.