Resume

• 9392793

  us

• 9347035

  us

• 2007

  San Diego State University

  Lectured biology undergraduates in Biostatistics and Marine Biology

  San Diego State University

• 2003

  US 9

  607 B1

  Ph.D

  Edwards Laboratory

  Biology Department. \n\n•\tInvestigated the role of delayed development in persistence and genetic diversity of kelp;\n•\tDeveloped SOPs for controlling the transitions between kelp developmental stages; \n•\tPopulation genetics for parentage analysis using microsatellites.

  Biology/Ecology

  University of California

  Davis

• 2001

  Entranco

  Scripps Institution of Oceanography

  Sandia National Laboratories

  CA

  Gilbert

  AZ

  - Crop protection development for a commercial algae production stream. \n- Conceiving and developing molecular-based protocols to provide early detection of biocontaminants.\n- Project development

  mentoring

  Molecular Ecology Group Lead

  Heliae

  Gilbert

  AZ

  Director of Ag Science

  Heliae

  Monitored

  reported and advised mitigation of intertidal salt marsh vegetation

  Entranco

  Sandia National Laboratories

  CA

  Livermore

  CA

  •\tConceived and validated an ultra-high throughput sequencing pipeline to identify DNA signatures for pathogenic/bio-contaminant detections in algal cultivation systems; \n•\tDeveloped a rapid field-deployable nucleic acids based assay to identify algae pond bio-contaminants in less than 1 hr using bead coupling technology.

  Postdoctoral Research Scientist

  Gilbert

  AZ

  Manager

  Ag Science & Molecular Ecology

  Heliae

  La Jolla

  CA

  •\tEnhanced biomass production of micro- and macroalgae through culture optimization;\n•\tDeveloped GCMS and optical techniques to track cellular carbon partitioning; \n•\tScaled-up microalgal culture using automated photobioreactor with gas/pH control.

  Postdoctoral Research Scientist

  Scripps Institution of Oceanography

  us

• 2000

  M.S.

  Developed methods using lab-reared juveniles and ectopic transplantation for habitat \t\t\nrestoration of natural kelp populations.

  Restoration Ecology

  University of Washington

• 1994

  B.S.

  Biology

• 1993

  Art history

  art and italian

  Franklin College Switzerland

• 113

  US 9

  607 B1

  us

• Research SCUBA diver

  Microscopy

  Biology

  Laboratory

  Lab culture and scale-up of algae biomass

  Algae

  Genetics

  Ecological research

  Science

  Fluorescence Microscopy

  Biochemistry

  Molecular Biology

  Scientific Writing

  Assay Development

  Purification

  Experimental Design

  DNA

  Biofuels

  R&D

  Cell Culture

  Genetic and experimental evidence for a mixed age

  mixed origin bank of kelp microscopic stages in southern California

  Andrew Bohonak

  Matthew Edwards

  Laboratory studies have demonstrated that the microscopic stages of kelps can rapidly resume development from a delayed state. Like terrestrial seeds or aquatic resting eggs

  banks of delayed kelp stages may supplement population recovery after periods of stress

  playing an important role for kelp populations that experience adult sporophyte absences due to seasonal or inter-annual disturbances. We found that removing the microscopic stages from natural rock substratum could prevent the appearance of juvenile kelp sporophytes for three months and the establishment of a diverse kelp assemblage for over four months within a southern California kelp forest. Juveniles were observed within one month in plots where microscopic stages were left intact

  which may confer an advantage for the resulting sporophytes as they attain larger sizes before later recruiting neighbors. Microsatellite diversity was high (HE ≈ 0.9) for juveniles and adults within our sites. Using a microsatellite-based parentage analysis for the dominant kelp

  Macrocystis pyrifera

  we estimated that a portion of the new M. pyrifera sporophyte recruits had originated from their parents at least seven months after their parents had disappeared. Similar delay durations have been demonstrated in recent laboratory studies. Additionally

  our results suggest that zoospore dispersal distances >50 m may be supported by including additional microsatellite loci in the analysis. We propose a mixed age and

  potentially

  a mixed origin bank of M. pyrifera gametophytes promotes maximal genetic diversity in recovering populations and reduces population genetic subdivision and self-fertilization rates for intact populations by promoting the survival of zoospores dispersed >10 m and during inhospitable environmental conditions.

  Genetic and experimental evidence for a mixed age

  mixed origin bank of kelp microscopic stages in southern California

  Matthew Edwards

  Cryptic Processes in the Sea: A Review of Delayed Development in the Microscopic Life Stages of Marine Macroalgae

  Parasites are now known to be ubiquitous across biological systems and can play an important role in modulating algal populations. However

  there is a lack of extensive information on their role in artificial ecosystems such as algal production ponds and photobioreactors. Parasites have been implicated in the demise of algal blooms. Because individual mass culture systems often tend to be unialgal and a select few algal species are in wide scale application

  there is an increased potential for parasites to have a devastating effect on commercial scale monoculture. As commercial algal production continues to expand with a widening variety of applications

  including biofuel

  food and pharmaceuticals

  the parasites associated with algae will become of greater interest and potential economic impact. A number of important algal parasites have been identified in algal mass culture systems in the last few years and this number is sure to grow as the number of commercial algae ventures increases. Here

  we review the research that has identified and characterized parasites infecting mass cultivated algae

  the techniques being proposed and or developed to control them

  and the potential impact of parasites on the future of the algal biomass industry.

  Parasites in algae mass culture

  Sigrid Reinsch

  Kelly Williams

  Lara Jansen

  Pam Lane

  Large-scale cultivation of microalgae for biofuels may avoid competing for agriculture

  water

  and fertilizer by using wastewater and avoid competing for land by using the Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA) system. Some microalgae thrive in wastewater; however

  wastewater also contains a complex mixture of organisms. An algae culture in wastewater from a San Francisco Treatment Facility in a 1600-L OMEGA culture system was monitored by standard methods. Prima facie evidence of a chytrid infection prompted a detailed investigation of the microbiome over a 13-day period using second generation sequencing of hypervariable regions of the small subunit rRNA genes. The observed bacteria

  initially dominated by γ-proteobacteria

  shifted to Cytophagia

  Flavobacteriia

  and Sphingobacteriia after addition of exogenous nutrients. The dominant algae genera introduced with the inoculum

  Desmodesmus and Scenedesmus

  remained over 70% of the sequence reads on day 13

  although the optical density and fluorescence of the culture declined. Nonalgal eukarya

  initially dominated by unclassified alveolates

  chrysophytes

  and heliozoan grazers

  shifted to chytrid fungi on day 5 and continued to day 13. The results of this microbiome analysis can facilitate the development of probe or primer based surveillance systems for routine monitoring of large-scale microalgae cultures.

  Microbiome analysis of a microalgal mass culture growing in municipal wastewater in a prototype OMEGA photobioreactor

  Recent work suggests that the ability to delay reproduction as resistant haploid gametophytes may be important for seaweeds that experience unpredictable disturbances or seasonal periods of poor conditions that result in adult sporophyte absence. Further

  delayed gametophytes of some kelp species (order Laminariales) may produce sporophytes more rapidly than if they had never experienced a delay

  conferring a competitive advantage when conditions improve or after disturbance events. Here

  it was determined that the gametophytes of the canopy-forming kelp Macrocystis pyrifera (L.) C. Agardh could delay reproduction in a one- to two-cell state (<50 μm) for at least 7 months when grown under nutrient-limiting conditions. Delayed development is a viable strategy for surviving and initially dominating in environments with variable quality.

  A MULTISPECIES LABORATORY ASSESSMENT OF RAPID SPOROPHYTE RECRUITMENT FROM DELAYED KELP GAMETOPHYTES

  Osu Lilje

  Sally Glockling

  Frank Gleason

  Parasites in the Phylum Cryptomycota and their hosts in the Phyla Chytridiomycota

  Blastocladiomycota and Oomycota have commonly been observed in aquatic and soil ecosystems. Although rDNA sequence data from environmental samples suggest a wide genetic diversity for the Cryptomycota

  Rozella is the only genus described in this group. The species of Rozella which have been studied in the laboratory are biotrophs and have stages with simple morphological characteristics in their life cycles. The life cycles consist of uniflagellate zoospores

  thalli which are unwalled

  endobiotic protoplasts

  and sometimes walled resting spores. These parasites are secondary consumers in producer and detritus based food chains. Species of Rozella efficiently transfer carbon and energy from their hosts (primary consumers) to grazing zooplankton and other tertiary consumers. It is likely that they fine-tune the dynamics of food chains and increase the complexity of food webs. However

  there are no quantitative data available at present to support this hypothesis.

  Ecological potentials of species of Rozella (Cryptomycota)

  Matthew Edwards

  In the laboratory

  we experimentally examined the environmental conditions responsible for regulating delayed development of the microscopic stages of M. pyrifera from Southern California

  USA.

  ROLE OF NUTRIENT FLUCTUATIONS AND DELAYED DEVELOPMENT IN GAMETOPHYTE REPRODUCTION BY MACROCYSTIS PYRIFERA (PHAEOPHYCEAE) IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

  Laura

  Heliae