MICHELLE E. AFKHAMI Cox Science Center University of Miami [email protected] 1301 Memorial Dr
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MICHELLE E. AFKHAMI Cox Science Center University of Miami [email protected] 1301 Memorial Dr. Department of Biology [email protected] Coral Gables, FL 33146 michelleafkhami.wordpress.com Professional Appointments Assistant Professor of Ecology Jan 2016 – Current University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Plant Genome Initiative Sept 2014 – Dec 2015 Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON and Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI Supervisors: John Stinchcombe, Maren Friesen, Yair Shachar Hill Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Departmental Research Fellow Nov 2013 – Aug 2014 University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Supervisor: John Stinchcombe Education Ph.D. – Population Biology Mar 2013 University of California, Davis, CA. (GPA: 4.0/4.0) Committee: Sharon Strauss (advisor), Kevin Rice, Jennifer Rudgers, John Stachowicz M.A. – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (thesis-based) Jan 2008 Rice University, Houston, TX. (GPA: 4.0/4.0) Committee: Jennifer Rudgers (advisor), Kenneth Whitney, Julian N. Holland B.S. – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology May 2006 Rice University, Houston, TX. (GPA: 3.973/4.0, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) Honors Thesis Advisors: Joan Strassmann, David Queller Fellowships, Grants, and Awards Total Awarded ≈ $895,000 2014 – National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Plant Genome Initiative ($216,000) 2014 – NSERC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship ($140,000, Declined) 2013 – Ecology and Evol. Biology Departmental Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Toronto ($80,000) 2013 – National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Plant Genome Init. ($207,000, Declined) 2012 – Mrs. George F. Jewett, Jr. Scholar, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Award ($10,000) 2012 – Dean’s Mentorship Award, College of Biological Sciences ($5,000) 2012 – Hardman Foundation Award ($2,100) 2012 – Max Planck Institute Integral Projection Modeling Course Accommodations Scholarship 2012 – American Association of University Women Dissertation Fellowship Alternate 2011 – ARCS Scholar, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Award ($10,000) 2011 – Hardman Foundation Award ($2,500) 2011 – Center for Population Biology Travel Grant ($500) 2010 – National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant ($14,991) 2010 – Center for Population Biology Research Grant ($2,100) 2010 – Center for Population Biology Travel Grant ($800) 2009 – Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant ($1,729) 2009 – Center for Population Biology Research Grant ($1,500) 2008 – Center for Population Biology Research Grant ($1,700) 2008 – Golden Key International Honour Society 2007 – National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship ($121,500) 2007 – UC Davis Graduate Student Match Fellowship ($40,500) 2007 – Bodega Marine Laboratory Travel Grant Award ($975) 2006 – Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Endowed Fellowship ($35,033) 2006 – The Julian Huxley Best Thesis Award, Dept. of Ecology and Evol. Biology, Rice University ($100) Publications *undergraduate coauthor Afkhami, M.E. & J.R. Stinchcombe. (2016) Multiple mutualist effects on genome-wide expression in the tripartite association between Medicago truncatula, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and mycorrhizal fungi. Molecular Ecology. 25: 4946-4962. Afkhami, M.E., & S.Y. Strauss. (2016) Native fungal endophytes suppress an exotic dominant and increase plant diversity over small and large spatial scales. Ecology. 97: 1159-1169. E.I. Jones, M.E. Afkhami, E. Akcay, J.L. Bronstein, R. Bshary, M.E. Frederickson, K.D. Heath, J. Hoeksema, J. Ness, S. Pankey, S.S. Porter, J.L. Sachs, K. Scharnagl, & M.L. Friesen. (2015) Cheaters must prosper: reconciling theoretical and empirical perspectives on cheating in mutualism. Ecology Letters. 18: 1270–84. Afkhami, M.E., P.J. McIntyre, & S.Y. Strauss. (2014) Mutualist-mediated effects on species’ range limits across large geographic scales. Ecology Letters. 17: 1265-1273. (Recommended by Faculty 1000, 21 citations) Charlton, N.D., K.D. Craven, M.E. Afkhami, B.A. Hall*, S.R. Ghimire, & C.A. Young. (2014) Interspecific hybridization and bioactive alkaloid variation increases diversity in endophytic Epichloë species of Bromus laevipes. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 90: 276-289. Afkhami, M.E., J.A. Rudgers, & J.J. Stachowicz. (2014) Multiple Mutualist Effects: Conflict and synergy in multispecies mutualisms. Ecology. 95: 833-844. Gorischek, A.M.*, M.E. Afkhami, E.K. Seifert, & J.A. Rudgers. (2013) Fungal symbionts as manipulators of reproductive biology. The American Naturalist. 181: 562-570. **Covered by Science News: Pennisi, E. (March 2013) Fungus get off my lawn. Afkhami, M. E. (2012) Fungal endophyte-grass symbioses are rare in the California floristic province and other regions with Mediterranean-influenced climates. Fungal Ecology special issue. 5: 345-352. Afkhami, M. E. & J. A Rudgers. (2009) Endophyte-mediated resistance to herbivores depends on herbivore identity in the wild grass, Festuca subverticillata. Environmental Entomology. 38: 1086-1095. (29 citations) Rudgers, J.A., M. E. Afkhami, M. A. Rúa, A. J. Davitt, S. Hammer, & V. M. Huguet. (2009) A fungus among us: broad patterns of endophyte distribution in the grasses. Ecology. 90(6): 1531-1539. (59 citations) Afkhami, M. E. & J. A. Rudgers. (2008) Symbiosis Lost: Imperfect vertical transmission of fungal endophytes in grasses. The American Naturalist. 172(3): 405-416. (77 citations) Afkhami, M. E. & J. E. Strassmann. (2007) Adult Yellow-crowned Night-herons face in opposite directions at the nest. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 119(4):747–749. In Review, Completed, and In Prep Manuscripts Afkhami, M.E., D.L. Mahler, J.H. Burns, M.G. Weber, M.F., Wojciechowski, J. Sprent, & S.Y. Strauss. (In Review) Effect of nodulation with N-fixing bacteria on diversification of legumes. American Journal of Botany. Carscadden, K.A., M.E. Afkhami, C.A. Arnillas, M.W. Cadotte, N.C. Emery, D. Gravel, S.W. Livingstone, & J.J. Wiens. (In Review) Broadening the horizons of niche breadth research. Ecology Letters. Batestone, R., K.A. Carscadden, M.E Afkhami, M. Frederickson. (In prep; Proposal Accepted) Moving beyond cheaters in mutualisms: niche breadth explains prevalence of generalist hosts. The American Naturalist. Select Presentations (Total = 43, Invited talks in BOLD) 2016 – Ecological Society of America. Fort Lauderdale, FL. 2015 – Cornell University. Ithaca, NY 2015 – University of Rochester. Rochester, NY 2015 – Gordon Conference on Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics. Biddeford, MN 2015 – Ecological Society of America. Baltimore, MD 2015 – Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI 2015 – Yale University. New Haven, CT 2015 – University of Kentucky. Lexington, KY 2015 – Iowa State University. Ames, IA 2015 – Purdue University. West Lafayette, IN 2015 – University of Tennessee. Knoxville, KY 2015 – Utah State University. Logan, UT 2015 – University of Oklahoma. Norman, OK 2015 – University of California LA. Los Angeles, CA 2015 – University of Miami. Miami, FL 2014 – Dartmouth University. Hanover, NH 2014 – Oregon State University. Corvallis, OR 2014 – University of Wisconsin, Madison. Madison, WI 2014 – York University. Ontario, Canada 2014 – National Science Foundation Plant Genomics Meeting. Arlington, VA 2014 – University of Toronto, St. George. Ontario, Canada. 2014 – Ecological Society of America. Sacramento, CA 2014 – Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution’s Genomes to Biomes. Quebec, Canada 2014 – University of Toronto, Mississauga. Ontario, Canada 2013 – Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis. Davis, CA 2013 – Dept. of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis. Davis, CA 2012 – Symbiosis Meeting. Yosemite National Park, CA 2012 – Mathias Symposium. Bodega Bay, CA 2012 – Ecological Society of America. Portland, OR 2012 – International Symposium on the Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf. Salt Lake, UT (coauthor) 2011 – Ecological Society of America. Austin, TX 2010 – Ecological Society of America. Pittsburgh, PA 2010 – International Symposium on Fungal Endophyte of Grasses (ISFEG) – Mycological Society of America (MSA) Joint Meeting. Lexington, KY. (oral and several poster presentations) 2009 – Ecological Society of America. Albuquerque, NM 2007 – Gordon Conference on plant-herbivore interactions. Ventura, CA 2007 – Ecological Society of America – Society for Ecological Restoration Conference. San Jose, CA 2007 – Rice University. Houston, TX 2006 – Syracuse University. Syracuse, NY Professional Societies, Workshops, and News (A) Professional Societies (within last 5 years): Amer Assoc for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Canadian Society for Ecology & Evolution (CSEE), Ecological Society of Amer (ESA), Mycological Society of Amer (MSA) (B) Working Groups: NCEAS WG: MacroMycoFunc - Forming an integrated understanding of function across fungi (2016-), Quantifying Niche Breadth WG (2015- ), NCEAS WG: Cheating in Mutualisms (2012-2015) (C) Workshops: Software Carpentry Workshop (2014), Python Methods Workshop (2014), AMF Methods Workshop (2013), Max Planck Institute’s Integral Projection Modeling Course (2012), ESA’s Integral Projection Modeling Workshop (2012), Center for Population Biology Workshops on: Phylogenetics Methods (2013), Hierarchical Models (2011), R Tools (2008), and Coevolution (2008) (D) In the News - Interviewed for an article on fungal endophytes in the popular magazine Organic Gardening (2014). - Profiled by the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies (2014). Teaching