Keynote: Evolution and ecology of host-specific gut microbiota in social bees

In this talk I will discuss recent findings from genomic and experimental studies that advance our understand of how gut microbial communities in social bees have evolved.

Dietary diversity and gut microbial plasticity in platyrrhine monkeys

In this talk I examine the relative contributions of diet and phylogeny to the gut microbiome of closely related platyrrhine monkeys, and investigate the association between dietary flexibility (or omnivory) on gut microbial diversity.

Who is the microbiome’s host? And why is it such a mess?

I’ll present findings regarding fruit-bat microbiome composition which suggest that in certain respects the host, from an ecological perspective, is the bat colony and not merely the individual.