Karen Andrade

Ph.D. Candidate

Education

• University of California, Davis, B.S. Biotechnology- Microbial emphasis.                 Minor in Comparative Literature

Research Interests

microbial ecology, microbial circadian rhythms, microbial ecosystem services, green chemistry, science communication

Research Description

My primary professional interest and goal is to facilitate the use of science in the creation of public policy and environmental management. I am interested in bridging disciplines and creating avenues that allow knowledge generated by scientific pursuits to be placed and used in a social, cultural and economic context.

My research interests are diverse: from patterns and circadian-like rhythms in microbial communities, the use of metagenomics and proteomics to study and analyze microbial communities, the integration of microbial communities to the ecosystem services framework, as well as how microbial ecology can contribute to the field of Green Chemistry. I am also eager to learn more about science communication and how science interfaces with the complex ways that  people process and perceive environmental problems and risks, in their lives and as part of a society.

Periodicity and circadian-like rhythms of microbial communities in hypersaline ecosystems 

The diel cycle (day and night) is one of the most conspicuous features of life at and near the Earth’s surface. This enduring cycle has played a central role in the environmental space that most biological systems on Earth have evolved in. Most importantly, biologically relevant environmental changes in factors such as light, temperature and oxygen, occur in a nonrandom, often temporally coupled fashion. Being able to anticipate the temporal interrelationships among changes in environmental factors and to prepare a response allows the organism to function optimally in a defined environmental space.

Circadian rhythms are a well-studied example of this behavior. A circadian rhythm is an endogenous, physiological rhythms which: (a) oscillates with a period that is close to, but not exactly, 24 hours in duration, (b) is temperature compensated, signifying that it runs at nearly the same rate independently of the average ambient temperature (c) accepts input from environmental signals so that it matches the period and phase of the diel cycle. The fitness advantage conferred by these rhythms and their importance in the behavior and physiology of multicellular eukaryotes has long been recognized. Yet, for the most abundant organisms on Earth, unicellular microorganisms, this anticipatory capacity was long assumed to be non-existent or unimportant.

Evidence of circadian clocks has been found in individual organisms throughout the microbial world and extensive research has focused on the “clock” proteins responsible for its orchestration. Yet, microorganisms exist in complex microbial communities defined by networks of synergistic and competitive interactions. As is seen with community wide processes, such as respiration, it is possible that from individual phenomena, coordinated “community-level” diel cycles may emerge. My project uses “omic” techniques to study a hypersaline natural microbial community and culturing to test for periodicity and circadian-like rhythms in organisms, and community-level emergent physiological patterns coordinated by light.

Ecosystem Services and Microbial Communities

Microorganisms such as bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses are often factored into models and systems as “black boxes”; their ecology, functions and rates assumed to be constant. Yet, microbes, and the complex communities they form, are heterogeneous dynamic entities with multiple functions and contributions to human existence as well as the functioning of the ecosystems they conform. The growing understanding of the function and composition of microbial communities is leading to recognition of the contributions these groups have to ecosystem functioning and human welfare. The unprecedented resolution at which microbial systems can be studied is opening avenues for more specific perturbation and manipulation. Their critical role in environmental problems calls for an incorporation of microbial functioning into environmental decision-making frameworks. Management decisions should taken into account the consequences interventions have on the different microbial groups and how these cascade to impact the ecosystem. It is necessary to integrate microbial communities and their ecology to frameworks that explicitly assess the impacts of different interventions on the functioning of ecosystems and associated services.

In collaboration with Dr. Patricia Balvanera, from the Mexican National University (U.N.A.M.) I am using the case study of the Gulf of Mexico, before, during and after an oil spill, to show how emerging knowledge on microbial communities from metagenomics can be linked to the ecosystem services framework and integrated into environmental decision-making.

Honors and Awards

• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Fellowship, 2012-2013. John E. Sawyer Seminar on the Comparative Study of Cultures, "Speciesism and the Future of Humanity, Biology, Culture and Sociopolitcs"
• Chancellors Fellowship For Graduate Study, 2009-2011. University of California, Berkeley
• Honorable Mention , 2010. National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship
• Berkeley Edge Summer Fellowship, 2009. University of California, Berkeley