Earth Sciences Division Staff: Gary Andersen

Biographical Summary

I received my undergraduate training at Northwestern University where I majored in Biology.  While at Northwestern, I worked for Dr. James A. Lippincott on Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmid transfer and integration.  It was here that I first developed an interest in molecular biology and plant pathology.  I then went to the University of California at Berkeley were I eventually ended up working the laboratory of Dr. Steven Lindow as a staff research associate for almost eight years.  I was rapidly educated in the workings of the news media and public perceptions of scientific research with the lab’s release of Ice Minus Pseudomonas syringae into the environment.  I went to graduate school in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Berkeley with Dr. Lindow as my advisor and Dr. Andy O. Jackson as my mentor in molecular biology.  My interest was in the bacterium’s response to stress in the environment and received my Ph.D. under Steve Lindow in the characterization of epiphytic fitness mutants of P. syringae subjected to UV and desiccation stresses.  The mid-90s was not the best time for agricultural research funding, so for my post-doc I changed fields, still keeping my interest in bacterial interactions in the environment.  I joined Dr. Ken Wilson’s lab in the Infectious Diseases Division of Duke University Medical Center where I studied culture-resistant human pathogens and the epidemiology of the anthrax pathogen, Bacillus anthracis.  While at Duke University  I was fortunate enough to be the first to discover sequence-based differences for the differentiation of strains of B. anthracis.  The variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) that I discovered became the basis for a strain identification system for B. anthracis that is still in use today.  I joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a Principle Investigator in the Biology and Biotechnology Research Program.  While at LLNL, I set up a research program in bacterial diagnostics and environmental monitoring of pathogens.  I joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2003 as a Scientist in the Earth Sciences Division.   I have set up a laboratory to study bacterial responses to selected environments.  I have been very excited to be at a place where I am exposed to the latest technological breakthroughs and to be right next door to the UC Berkeley campus where I am able to interact with the leaders in the field of microbiology.  I am currently Group Leader for Molecular and Microbial Ecology in the Ecology Department of LBNL.

Research Interests

I am interested in using molecular approaches to study the dynamics of microbial community structure in the environment. This includes the development of new techniques to dissect the microbial diversity of complex ecosystems.  The long-term goal of this research is to integrate different fields of biology (i.e., genomics, ecology, molecular biology, proteomics and bioinformatics) to provide insight into the interactions of environmental microorganisms under stressful conditions.  My current research focuses on the microbial ecology of airborne and aquatic bacteria with an emphasis on the natural distribution of pathogens in the environment.  I have developed numerous microarray systems for the measurement of microbial diversity and the identification of bacterial communities by 16S and other gene sequences.  I have also used microarrays for whole genome expression of genes in response to environmental stimuli.

Education

• Undergraduate Institution:  Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois,
  • B.A. Biology 1978
• Graduate Institution:  University of California, Berkeley, California
  • M.Sc. Plant Pathology 1982
  • Ph.D. Plant Pathology 1993

Professional Experience

• 2003-present - Staff Scientist and Group Leader, Molecular and Microbial Ecology, Earth Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA
• 1997-2002 - Sr. Biomedical Scientist, Biology & Biotechnology Res. Prog., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
• 1993-1996 - Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Infectious Diseases, Duke University Medical School, Durham, NC

Professional Service and Activities

• 1999:  Ad hoc reviewer for the following journals; PNAS, ISME Journal, Nature Biotechnology, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, FEMS Microbiology Letters, Environmental Microbiology, Anaerobe, Journal of Bacteriology, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
• 2000-2003:  Member, Joint DOE-DTRA Task Force on Microbial Backgrounds. Washington D.C.
• 2001:  Science Advisor to the Einstein Institute for Science, Health & the Courts (EINSHAC), Washington, D.C.
• 2001-2003:  Advisory Committee for Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick AFB, FL
• 2003-2004:  Member, LBNL Institutional Biosafety Committee.
• 2004:  Editorial Board of Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• 2004:  Ph.D. Committee Member for Mareike Viebahn, Utrecht University, Shini Sunagawa, UC Merced, Rebecca Daly, UC Berkeley, and Pei-Ying Hong, National University of Singapore.
• 2006:  Genomic Aerobiology Working Group, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
• 2009:  Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Scientific Advisory Board.

Honors

• 1993:  Teaching Effectiveness Award. University of California, Berkeley, CA, 1993
• 2000:  NAI Directorate Award, LLNL, Livermore, CA.
• 2002:  Directors Award, LLNL, Livermore, CA.
• 2008:  R&D 100 Award for Berkeley PhyloChip.
• 2008:  Overall Bronze Medal winner, and Environment category winner, Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards.

Research Supervision

• Graduate Students - Ph.D. Committee Member for Mareike Viebahn, Utrecht University, Shini Sunagawa, UC Merced, Rebecca Daly, UC Berkeley, and Pei-Ying Hong, National University of Singapore.
• Post Doctoral Scientists (completed) – Lyndsay Radnedge, Peter Agron, Eoin Brodie.
• Post Doctoral Scientists (current) – Stéphanie Bernard (Swarbreck), Eric Dubinsky, Cindy Wu (co-advisor), Kristen DeAngelis (co-advisor).

Patents

• Array for Detecting Microbes. PCT/US2007/024720.
• Heavy Metal Biosensor. JIB-2368PCT
• Improved Method for Phylogenetic Microarray Design and Analysis. IB-2733).
• Nucleotide Sequences Specific to Bacillus anthracis. Number 7,494,778.