Ben Sikes


Ben Sikes
  • Associate Scientist
  • Associate Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
he/him/his

Contact Info

41C Takeru Higuchi Hall, West Campus

Biography

Ben's postdoctoral fellowships included a position at the Bio-Protection Research Centre at Lincoln University in New Zealand, 2012-2013, and the David H. Smith Postdoctoral fellowship at University of Texas at Austin, 2010-2012.

Education

B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 2001
Ph.D. in Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 2010

Research

The vast world below ground has been referred to as the poor man’s tropical rain forest. Ben studies community ecology of soil microorganisms. Research in the lab explores this diversity and interactions among species there as well as how soil microbial ecology cascades up to aboveground communities and ecosystem processes. He focuses mainly on fungi (and some bacteria) that live in soils, and is interested in understanding the dynamics of microbe-plant symbioses, the role of soil microorganisms in community assembly (above and below ground) and the potential to leverage soil microbes in restoration. The lab uses a combination of study methods in the field, greenhouse and in controlled lab conditions, commonly employing a variety of tools including fungal culturing, next generation DNA sequencing and modeling.

Research interests:

  • Soil microbial ecology,
  • Community ecology of soil microorganisms
  • Plant-soil interactions