Erica V. Harris, Ph. D.
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS 2020-present Spelman College, Atlanta, GA Postdoctoral Research Associate, Biology PI: Jennifer Kovacs
EDUCATION 2013 – 2020 Emory University, Atlanta, GA PhD in Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution Advisors: Jacobus de Roode and Nicole Gerardo
2009-2013 Rice University, Houston, TX BA in Biochemistry & Cellular Biology Advisors: Volker Rudolf and Joan Strassmann
FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS National 2017-2018 Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Dissertation Grant. $20,000 2014-2017 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (3 yrs). $32,000 stipend + $12,000 tuition 2015 Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives-Social Science Research Council Graduate Studies Enhancement Grant. $1,500 2014 Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives-Social Science Research Council Predoctoral Research Development Grant. $2,845 2011-2013 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Research Program. $26,000 Internal 2016 Atlanta Science Festival Exploration Expo Educational Outreach Grant. $823.19 2015 Atlanta Science Festival Exploration Expo Educational Outreach Grant. $803.56 2014 Eugene Gangarosa Laboratory Research Mentoring Fellowship, Infectious Diseases Institute at Emory University Summer Fellowships 2012 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, Emory University. $3,500 2010 National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates, Rice University. $3,000
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AWARDS 2020 Travel Award, Ecological Society of America Student Section, Real/Brown Travel Grant Recipient. $190 2020 Workshop Scholarship, Biology and Mathematics Educators (BIOME) Institute: Culivating Scientific Curiosity, Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis (QUBES). $1,125 2020 Eleanor Main Graduate Mentor [Commencement Ceremony] Award, Laney Graduate School at Emory University. $2,500 2019 Student Mentor Award, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Emory University. 2018 Travel Award, Ecological Society of America Strategies for Ecology, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) Alumni Annual Meeting Graduate Award. $1,000 2017-2018 Emory Biology Department Travel Award, Marion Trawick Coleman. $2,000 2017 Gordon Research Conference Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority (CSURM) Fellowship, Animal-Microbe Symbiosis. $600 2016 First place in Graduate Student Oral Presentation Competition – Insect Immunology, International Congress of Entomology, Orlando, FL. 2015 Student Leadership Award (nominee), Graduate Division of Bioloigical and Biomedical Sciences at Emory University. 2015 Travel Award, National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) Graduate Workshop – Current Issues in Statistical Ecology. $1,500 2014-2016 Mellon Mays Graduate Mentor Award (2 yrs.), Emory University. $1,600 2014 -2015 Travel Award, Ecological Society of America Strategies for Ecology, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) Alumni Annual Meeting Graduate Award (2 yrs). $800 2013 Travel Award, Mellon Mays Fellowship Professional Network Biennial Conference. $750 2013 Travel Award, Ecological Society of America SEEDS Student 98th Annual Meeting. $1,400 2012 Travel Award, Ecological Society of America Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) Fall Field Trip. $800 2012 Travel Award, MMUF South African January Program. $4,000 2010 Emerging Leadership Alliance Scholarship. $500
PUBLICATIONS (*, mentored students)
Erica V. Harris, Tiffanie Alcaide, Ava Salmi*, Keisha Baffour-Addo*, Mahal Bughay*, Kandis L. Adams, Mark D. Hunter, Nicole M. Gerardo, Jacobus C. de Roode. Diet indirectly alters parasite resistance through the gut microbiome in monarch butterflies (in preparation for Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
Erica V. Harris, Tiffanie Alcaide, Keisha Baffour-Addo*, Mahal Bughay*, Kandis L. Adams, Nicole M. Gerardo, Jacobus C. de Roode. Alternative diets affect the monarch butterfly microbiome in early development (in preparation for Molecular Ecology)
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Wen-Hao Tan, Tarik Acevedo, Erica V. Harris, Tiffanie Alcaide, James R. Walters, Mark D. Hunter, Nicole M. Gerardo, Jacobus C. de Roode. (2019) Transcriptomics of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) reveals that toxic host plants alter expression of detoxification genes and down-regulate a small number of immune genes. Molecular Ecology. doi: 10.1111/mec.15219
Erica V. Harris, Jacobus C. de Roode, Nicole M. Gerardo. (2019) Diet-Microbiome-Disease: Investigating diet’s influence on infectious disease resistance through alteration of the gut microbiome. PLoS Pathogens. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007891
Cole, M. F., T. Acevedo-Gonzalez, N.M. Gerardo, E.V. Harris & C.W. Beck. (2018) Effect of diet on bean beetle microcbial communities. In: McMahon K. editor. Tested Studies for Laboratory Teaching, Proceedings of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE). Vol 39, Article 3.
Marc Noguera-Julian, Yolanda Guillén, Jessica Peterson, David Reznik, Erica V. Harris, Sandeep J. Joseph, Javier Rivera, Sunil Kannanganat, Rama Amara, Minh Ly Nguyen, Roger Paredes, Timothy Read, Vincent C. Marconi. (2017) Oral microbiome in HIV-associated periodontitis. Medicine. 96 (12):e5821.
PRESENTATIONS Harris, Erica, Tiffanie Alcaide, Keisha Baffour-Addo, Mahal Bughay, Nicole M. Gerardo, and Jacobus C. de Roode. The effect of ontogenetic development and milkweed diet on the monarch butterfly gut microbiome (oral presentation) 2019 UGA-Emory Monarch Butterfly Summit Meeting. Athens, GA.
Harris, Erica, Nicole Gerardo, and Jacobus de Roode. The effect of plant chemistry and microbial fecal transplants on disease resistance in monarch butterflies (oral presentation) 2018 Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. New Orleans, LA.
Harris, Erica, Nicole Gerardo, and Jacobus de Roode. Gut microbe-milkweed plant interactions and their implications on disease resistance (poster) • 2017 Gordon Research Conference, Animal-Microbe Symbiosis. Dover, Vermont. • 2017 European Society of Evolutionaty Biology. Groningen, the Netherlands. • 2017 Ecological Immunology Workshop. Blossin, Germany.
Harris, Erica, Nicole Gerardo, and Jacobus de Roode. Monarch butterfly-microbe interactions and their implications on disease resistance (oral presentation) 2016 International Congress of Entomology. Orlando, FL.
Harris, Erica, Nicole Gerardo, and Jacobus de Roode. Diet modulation of host gut microbiota and its impact on disease resistance in monarch butterflies (oral presentation) 2015 Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Baltimore, MD.
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Harris, Erica, Itai Doron, Justine Garcia, Jacobus de Roode, and Nicole Gerardo. Monarch butterfly immunity within an ecological context: effects of medicinal food plants on mid- gut microbial composition (poster) 2014 Meeting of Ecological Society of America. Sacramento, CA.
Harris, Erica. Cost of immunity in pea aphids associated with host plant interactions. (poster) 2013 Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Minneapolis, MN.
Harris, Erica. Effects of immune priming in Tribolium confusum on population dynamics. (oral presentation) 2011 Mellon Mays Undergraduate SE Regional Conference. Durham, NC.
Harris, Erica, René Peters, Lysa Voles, and Luis Carbajal. Unknown SNPs and DNA Strips: identifying and characterizing SNPs in Rett Syndrome. (poster) 2008 Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Genomics Research Symposium. Cambridge, MA.
TEACHING and ADVISING EXPERIENCE Summer 2020 Instructor, Science Writing and Communication, MIT Online Science Technology and Engineering Community (MOSTEC) Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Summer 2016 Facilitator, Teaching Assistant Training and Teaching Opportunity (TATTO) Microteaching workshop, Emory University. Spring 2016 Teaching Assistant, Coastal Biology, Emory University. Fall 2015 Guest Lecturer, Ecology, Emory University. Fall 2015 Teaching Assistant, Evolutionary Biology Emory University. Summer 2015 Facilitator, Teaching Assistant Training and Teaching Opportunity (TATTO) Microteaching workshop, Emory University. Spring 2015 Teaching Assistant, Evolutionary Biology Emory University. Fall 2014 Teaching Assistant, Evolutionary Biology Emory University. Spring 2014 Teaching Assistant, Evolutionary Biology Emory University. Summer 2013 Teaching Assistant, Biochemistry, Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND SERVICE Committees and Organizations 2016 Graduate Student Liason, Faculty Search Committee, Emory Department of Biology 2014-2017 President, PBEE Seminar Series Committee, Emory University 2014-2017 Community Service Chair, Emory Black Graduate Student Association 2014-2017 Student Representative, Executive Committee, Emory PBEE program 2013-2014 Treasurer, PBEE Seminar Series Committee, Emory University 2013-2015 Graduate Student Recruitment Committee, Emory PBEE program Reviewer 2014-2016 Reviewer, Ecological Society of America’s Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) undergraduate program activities
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Judge 2018, 2020 Senior Division, Annual Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, Athens, GA 2016-2017 Junior Division, Annual Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, Athens, GA 2015 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) poster symposium, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 2014 Buell and Braun Student Presentation Award, Ecological Society of America, Sacremento, CA 2013 Genomics Research Symposium, Broad Institue of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA Conferences 2016, 2017 Invited panelist and session moderator, Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship SE Regional Conference, Atlanta, GA. 2015 Assistant Coordinator, Microbiome and Human Health Symposium, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 2014 PBEE Student Representative, Emory University’s 2nd Annual STEM and Research and Career Symposium, Atlanta, GA. 2014 Graduate Student Volunteer, Mellon Mays Fellowship Professional Network (MMFPN) Biennial Conference, Philadelphia, PA. 2013 Invited panelist and Moderator, Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship SE Regional Conference, Atlanta, GA.
MENTORING Mentoring in the Laboratory Students mentored: Denver Cooper (Spelman College, summer research) Dominique Calhoun (Spelman College, summer research) Kai Brady (Spelman College, research for credit) Ava Salmi (Emory University, research for credit) Abby Hotaling (Emory University, research for credit) Arielle Francis (Mill Creek High School, high school student volunteer) Keisha Baffour-Addo (Milton Academy, high school student volunteer) Mahal Bugay (Emory University, Agnes Scott College Goizueta STEM Scholar) Matthew Lipow (Emory University, undergraduate volunteer) Nancy Holbrook (Emory University, Scholarly Inquiry and Reseach at Emory (SIRE)) Destane Garrett (Xavier University, HHMI Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)) Cecelia Carchedi (high school, Emory University Infectious Diseases Summer Institute) Itai Doron (Emory University, research credit) Matthew Moran (Rice University, research credit) Elizabeth Menard (Rice University, volunteer)
Mentoring beyond the Laboratory Collectives and organizations: 2014-2018 Lead Graduate Mentor and Seminar Coordinator, Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) at Emory University. I designed and facilitated professional development workshops, Erica Harris CV Page 5
research conceptualization, and writing seminars for 24 undergraduate honors minority students majoring in: ecology, environmental science and medical anthropology 2014, 2015 & 2018 Graduate Student Alumni Meeting Mentor, Ecological Society of America SEEDS program Alumni Meeting Mentor. I assisted 21 SEEDS minorty undergraduate students navigating annual meeting 2013 Mentor and Residential Teaching Assistant, Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 78 minority high school students 2011-2012 Undergraduate Mentor, Field A Vision Mentoring Program, Phillis Wheatley High School, Houston, TX 2010-2012 Undergraduate Advisor and Diversity Facilitator, Orientation Week at Rice University for freshmen undergraduates
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT 2020 STEM classroom presenter, Jonesboro High School, Atlanta Science Festival, Imagining the Future Program, Jonesboro, GA 2019 Graduate student volutunteer, Edgewood Church, Science Saturdays, Atlanta, GA 2019 Graduate student volunteer, Renfroe Middle School, Visit to Emory, Atlanta, GA 2018 STEM classroom presenter, Jonesboro High School, Atlanta Science Festival, Imagining the Future Program, Jonesboro, GA 2018 Session leader, Morningside Elementary Family Science Night, Mycrobes: Making the Unseen World Seen, Atlanta, GA 2017 Graduate student volunteer, Locust Grove Elementary, Mycrobes: Seeing the Unseen, Locust Grove, GA 2015 Invited speaker, Emory Black Student Alliance, Black Voices: Graduate Student Edition, Atlanta, GA 2015 Graduate student volunteer, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Wild Poisions exhibit, Atlanta, GA 2015-2016 Graduate student volunteer, Atlanta Science Festival Exploration Expo booth, Mycrobes: Seeing the Unseen, Atlanta, GA 2013-2016 Graduate student volunteer, St. Marks Wildlife Refuge, Annual Monarch Butterfly Festival, St. Marks, FL. 2014 Whitefoord and Toomer Elementary School STEM Clubs, Visit to Emory, Atlanta, GA
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS 2020-present Black Women in Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Marine Science 2020-present STEM Noire 2017-2018 European Society of Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) 2016-present Entomological Society of America (ESA) 2015-present International Association of Black Ecologists
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2014-2015 Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) 2013-present Ecological Society of America (ESA) Black Ecologists Section Disease Ecology Section Microbial Ecology Section Education Section Student Section 2013-present Mellon Mays Fellowship Professional Network
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