My CV
BORIS WAWRIK
University of Oklahoma
Department of Botany and Microbiology
George Lynn Cross Hall
770 Van Vleet Oval
Norman, OK 73019-4110
PHONE: 405-325-4321 - FAX: 405-325-7619
EDUCATION
1998-2003 Ph.D., Marine Science, University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, FL
1995-1998 B.S. (Magna Cum Laude), Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
ACADEMIC AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2004 Outstanding Dissertation Award, University of South Florida
2004 Sackett Prize (second place), Awarded for the most meritorious research project, College of Marine Science University of South Florida ($100)
2002 Gulf Oceanographic Charitable Trust Endowed Fellowship -Awarded by the faculty of the College of Marine Science, USF. (Monetary award: $8,000)
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY AND APPOINTMENTS
2008-today Assistant Professor at The University of Oklahoma
2006-2007 Research Assistant (appointment pending) at Rutgers University
2004-2006 Postdoctoral Researcher at Rutgers University
1999-2004 Ph.D. student at the University of South Florida
1995-1999 Advanta Enterprises Inc.
PUBLICATIONS
Babcock, D., B. Wawrik, J.H. Paul, and L. Kerkhof. Metagenomic analysis of dominant Bacterioplankton in the Midatlantic bight. In preparation.
Wawrik, B., T. Doolotkeldieva, D. Kutliev, L. Kerkhof, G.J. Zylstra, and J.J. Kukor. Prospecting Uncultured Microbial Biodiversity. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Gardens. In Press.
Callaghan, A.V., B. Wawrik, S. Ni Chadhain, G.J. Zylstra, and L. Young. A novel glycyl radical enzyme involved in the anaerobic activation of n-hexadecane. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2008, 366(1), p. 142-148
Babcock, D., B. Wawrik, J.H. Paul, and L. Kerkhof. Rapid screening of a large insert BAC library for specific 16S rRNA genes using TRFLP. Journal of Microbial Methods, 2007, 71(2), p. 156-61.
Kukor, J.J., B. Wawrik, and G.J. Zylstra. Metabolism of Aromatic Compounds. In: C.A. Reddy (ed.), Methods for General and Molecular Bacteriology, pp. 586-595.
Wawrik, B., D. Kutliev, L. Kerkhof, G. J. Zylstra, and J.J. Kukor. Biogeography of Actinomycete Communities and Type II Polyketide Synthase Genes in Soils Collected in New Jersey and Central Asia. 2007. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 73(9):2982-2989.
John, D., B. Wawrik and J.H. Paul. 2006. Identification and sequence Analysis of the Genomic Environment Surrounding rbcL Containing BAC Clones generated from Gulf of Mexico Community DNA. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 316:23-33
Wawrik, B., L. Kerkhof, J. Kukor and G. Zylstra. 2005. The Effect of Carbon Sources on Community Composition of Bacterial Enrichments from Soil. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71: 6776-6783
Wawrik, B., G. Zylstra, L. Kerkhof and J. Kukor. 2005. Identification of Unique Type II Polyketide Synthase Genes in Soil. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71: 2232-2238
Corredor, J., J.H. Paul, B. Wawrik, and L. Kerkhof, 2004. RubisCO Transcription and Photosynthetic Capacity of Planktonic Photoautotrophs: Results of the Geochemical Rate/RNA Integrated Study (GRIST). Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70: 5459-5468
Wawrik, B., D. John, M. Gray, D. A. Bronk, and J.H. Paul. 2004. Preferential Uptake of Ammonium in the Presence of Elevated Nitrate Concentrations by Phytoplankton in the Offshore Mississippi Plume. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 35:185-196
Wawrik, B., and J.H. Paul. 2004. Phytoplankton Community Structure and Productivity Along the Axis of the Mississippi Plume. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 35:175-184
Gray, M., B. Wawrik, E. Caspar and J.H. Paul. 2003. Molecular Detection and Quantification of the Red Tide Dinoflagellate Karenia brevis in the Marine Environment. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 69:5726-5730
Wawrik, B., J.H. Paul, L. Campbell, D. Griffin, L. Houchin, A. Fuentes-Ortega, and F. Müller-Karger, 2003. Vertical Structure of the Phytoplankton Community Associated with a Coastal Plume in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine Ecology Progress Series 251:87-101
Wawrik, B., J.H. Paul, and R. F. Tabita. 2002. Diatom rbcL (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) Gene Expression by Real-time PCR. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68:3771-3778
Paul, J.H., B. Wawrik, and A. Alfreider. 2000. Micro- and Macrodiversity in rbcL Sequences in Ambient Phytoplankton Populations from the Southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Ecology Progress Series 198:9-18
INVITED SEMINARS
Diversity and Community Dynamics on a Global Scale: Observations from Soils and Coastal Marine Systems. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, September 28th, 2007.
Spatial Distribution of Soil Actinomyctes in Central Asia. 4th Symposium of the International Cooperative Biodiverity Groups. Chicago, Illinois, September 6th, 2007.
Microbial Diversity and Community Dynamics on a Global Scale: Observations from Soils and Coastal Marine Systems. University of Oklahoma. Norman, Oklahoma, February 20th, 2007.
Measuring Microbial Diversity and Community Dynamics on a Global Scale: Observations from Soils and Coastal Marine Systems. Marine Biological Laboratories, Wood Hole, January 22nd, 2007.
Scales of Diversity and Community Dynamics in Microbial Communities of Soils and Coastal Marine Systems. Michigan State University, MI. March 23, 2006.
International Symposium on Natural Preservatives in Food Systems. Antimicrobial
Agents. Workshop. Princeton, NJ. March 30-31, 2005.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Culture Independent Bio-prospecting of Microbial Genes as a Source of Potentially Novel Active Molecules. Pearl River, NJ. March 10, 2005
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography Ocean Sciences Meeting. ntcA mRNA Levels as an Indicator Picocyanobacterial Nitrogen Nutritional Status in the Gulf of Mexico. Honolulu Hawaii. 2002.
OTHER SEMINARS AND PRESENTATIONS
Wawrik, B., D. John, M. Gray, D.A. Bronk and J.H. Paul. Regulation of Carbon Fixation by Nitrogen in Coastal Plume Environments. Bi-annual BI-OMP DOE investigators meeting. 2002.
Wawrik, B., J.H. Paul, and R.F. Tabita. rbcL (Ribulose 1,5-Bisphospate Carboxylase/Oxygenase) gene expression using Real-Time PCR. Suncoast Biomolecular Sciences Conference, USF Tampa. 2002.
Wawrik, B., F. Müller-Karge, L. Campbell, D. Griffin, L. Houchin, L., A. Fuentes-Ortega, and J.H. Paul. Expression and Diversity of Carbon Fixation Genes in Coastal Plumes of the Gulf of Mexico. BIO-OMP Annual Investigators Meeting March 2000.
Wawrik, B., F. Müller-Karge, L. Campbell, D. Griffin, L. Houchin, L., A. Fuentes-Ortega, and J.H. Paul. Diversity of rbcL sequences in natural populations of Prochlorococcus in the Gulf of Mexico. EC-MAS3-CT97-128 PROMOLEC final meeting at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. 2001.
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Boris Wawrik, Tinatin Doolotkeldieva, Gerben J. Zylstra, Lee Kerkhof, and Jerome J. Kukor. The Effect of Enrichment on Multiple Carbon Sources on alkB Gene Diversity Recovered from Soil. 20th Anniversary Symposium of the Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and the Environment. New Brunswick, NJ, October 12th, 2007.
Boris Wawrik, David E. John, and John H. Paul III. Analysis of rbcL Gene Sequence Diversity and mRNA Levels in the Gulf of Mexico: Contribution of Chlorophytes to the Eukaryotic Autotrophic Picoplankton. Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program Summer Workshop. July 2007, Woods Hole, MA.
Ní Chadhain, S., B. Wawrik, T. Doolotkeldieva, D. Kutliev, L. Kerkhof, J. J. Kukor, and G. J. Zylstra. Metagenomic libraries as sources of novel hydrocarbon degradation genes and pathways. Center for Environmental Bioionorganic Chemistry (CEBIC) Investigator Meeting, Princeton, June 2007.
Babcock, D., B. Wawrik, J. H. Paul, L. Mcguinness, L. J. Kerkhof. Analysis of 30kb DNA Fragments from Two Dominant Bacteria in the Mid Atlantic Bight. ASM General Meeting, May 2007.
Ní Chadhain, S., B. Wawrik, T. Doolotkeldieva, D. Kutliev, L. Kerkhof, J. J. Kukor, and G. J. Zylstra. Metagenomic libraries as sources of novel hydrocarbon degradation genes and pathways. ASM General Meeting, May 2007.
Zylstra, G.J., B. Wawrik, L. Kerkhof, and J. J. Kukor. El Suelo Como Una Fuente De Genes Codificando La Produccion Nuevos Agentes Anti Microbianos. X Congresso Latinoamericano De Botanica. Santo Domingo, June 18, 2006.
Wawrik, B., D. Kutliev, L. Kerkhof, G. J. Zylstra, and J.J. Kukor. Analysis of Actinomycete Communities and Type II Polyketide Synthase Genes in Soil collected in New Jersey and Central Asia. ASM General Meeting June 23, 2006.
Seliger, L.S., Wawrik, B., D. Kutliev, L. Kerkhof, J.J. Kukor, and G. J. Zylstra. Identification and Characterization of Genes Encoding a Novel Dioxygenase-Initiated Aromatic Degradation Pathway in an Uzbekistan Soil Metagenomic Library. ASM General Meeting June 23, 2006.
Witte, B.H., D. John, J.H. Paul, B. Wawrik, and F.R. Tabita. Functional Synechococcus RubisCO from an Oceanic Metagenomic Library. ASM General Meeting, 2005.
Wawrik, B., L. Kerkhof, J.J. Kukor, and G.J. Zylstra. The Effect of Carbon Sources on Community Composition of Bacterial Enrichments from Soil. ASM General Meeting, 2005.
John, D., B. Wawrik, and J.H. Paul. Uncovering Diversity in the rbcL Genomic
Environment of Marine Synechococcus. ASLO General Meeting in Salt Lake City, 2005.
Caspar, E., S. Gilbert, S. Meyers, S. Patterson, J.H. Paul, M. Smith, and B. Wawrik. A Simplified Algorithm for RNA target Quantification Based upon NASBA and Internal Calibrators. ASM General Meeting, 2004.
John, D., B. Wawrik, and J.H. Paul. Finding a Needle in a BAC-stack: The Search
for rbcL Genomic Fragments in the Oceans. ASM General Meeting, 2004.
Gray, M., L. Houchin, J.H. Paul, and B. Wawrik. Development of Strategies for the detection and Quantification of Karenia brevis, the Red Tide Forming Dinoflagellate Using the Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase Lage Subunit Gene (rbcL). ASM General Meeting, 2003.
Wawrik, B., F. R. Tabita, and J.H. Paul. Diatom rbcL (Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase) Gene Expression by real-time PCR. ASM General Meeting, 2001.
Wawrik, B., F. R. Tabita, and J.H. Paul. Diatom rbcL (Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase) Gene Expression by Real-time PCR. Florida Marine Biotechnology Summit II, 2000.
Wawrik, B., L. Houchin, D. Griffin, A. Fuentes-Ortega, and J.H. Paul. rbcL Expression in a Low-Salinity Plume Feature in the Gulf of Mexico. ASM General Meeting, 2000.
Wawrik, B. and J.H. Paul. rbcL Gene Expression and Molecular Diversity of Phytoplankton Communities in Coastal High Chlorophyll Plumes of the Gulf of Mexico. ASLO General Meeting in Copenhagen, 2000.
Lawrence, J. M., Pomory, C. M., Wawrik, B. Eccentricity of the Apical System and Peristome of Sand Dollars (Echinodermata: Echinoidea). North American Echinoderms Meeting. 1998.
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Sinéad M. Ní Chadhain, Boris Wawrik, Tinatin Doolotkeldieva, Lee J. Kerkhof, Jerome J. Kukor, and Gerben J. Zylstra. High Mountain Soil as a Source of Genetic Biodiveristy. 2007. Proceedings of the Third Republican. Scientific Conference "Ecological characteristic of biological diversity," Khorog, Tajikistan.
Tinatin Doolotkeldieva, Boris Wawrik., Gerben J. Zylstra, Lee Kerkhof, and Jerome J. Kukor. Biodiversity of Soil Prokaryotes as Sources of New Antibiotic Compounds 2007. Proceedings of the Third Republican. Scientific Conference "Ecological characteristic of biological diversity," Khorog, Tajikistan.
PAST SUPPORT
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Marine Microbiology Sequencing Program. Sequencing of BAC clones obtained from the GRIST experiment containing C cycling genes anchored on 16S rRNA and rbcL genes. PI: John H. Paul (University of South Florida). Co-PIs: Boris Wawrik (Rutgers University, NJ), Lee Kerkhof (Rutgers University, NJ). Collaborators named in proposal: Mark Frischer (Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, GA), F. Robert Tabita (Ohio State University, OH), and Bonkeun Song (University of North Carolina, NC). Proposal funded in May 2006.
Department of Energy (DOE) Microbial Genome Program: Sequencing of Two Sulfate-Reducing Delta-Proteobacteria (Strains AK-01 and Hxd3) Involved in the Anaerobic Activation and Biodegradation of Alkanes. PI: Boris Wawrik (Rutgers University, NJ). Collaborators named in the proposal: Amy V. Callaghan, Jerome J. Kukor, Lily Y. Young, Gerben J. Zylstra, (Rutgers Univ., NJ), Rachel N. Austin (Bates College, ME), John T. Groves (Princeton Univ., NJ), Ralf Rabus and Friedrich Widdel (Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany), Joseph M. Suflita, Univ. of Oklahoma, OK. Proposal funded in October 2005.
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Marine Microbiology Sequencing Program. Genomics of Marine Roseobacter. PIs: Boris Wawrik (Rutgers University, NJ), Thorsten Brinkhoff (University of Oldenburg, Germany), and Meinhard Simon (University of Oldenburg, Germany). Proposal funded in September 2005.
CRUISE AND FIELD WORK EXPERIENCE
2002 (July) - Geochemical Rate/RNA Integration Study (GRIST): A Pilot Field Experiment for Inter-Calibration of Biogeochemical Flux and Nucleic Acid Measurements. I participated, measuring rbcL mRNA expression rates and making large insert DNA clone libraries. Two manuscripts resulted from this work.
2001 (July) – R/V Walton-Smith (Miami). I participated as part of my thesis work in a 10-day cruise from Tampa Bay to the Mississippi River Delta towards Key West to study phytoplankton community dynamics, mRNA expression and nitrogen utilization as part of a DOE-funded project. Two manuscripts resulted from this work.
1998 (July) – R/V Pelican (LUMCON). I participated as part of my thesis work in a 10-day cruise from in the Gulf of Mexico to study phytoplankton community composition and mRNA expression in the Gulf of Mexico on a DOE-funded project. One manuscript resulted from this work.
TEACHING
CLASSES TAUGHT
2006 (Fall) -- Perspectives in Agriculture and the Environment. This was an entry level science class taken by freshmen at Cook College. I surveyed economic and scientific principles and discussed social issues that related to sustainable development.
STUDENTS
• Undergraduate Studens
Yla Anglso (2007). Yla worked on sequencing environmental meta-genome clones containing secondary metabolite genes. She was recently awarded a Rutgers University Biotechnology Summer Research Fellowship, which included a $3700 stipend. She also completed an Honors Thesis in the Cook College Honors Program using the research under my supervision.
• High School
Aneysa Allan (2008). Aneysa came to me as a Project SEED student supported by the American Chemical Society. She studied the occurrence of toxin producing cyanobacteria in lakes in New Jersey. Her work won her 1st place at the 21st Annual High School Poster Session of the North Jersey Section of the American Chemical Society.
Antar Fuentes-Ortega (2002). Antar participated in gene expression experiments and made a significant contribution to one of my projects that warranted his co-authorship on a peer reviewed publication (Wawrik et al. 2003 MEPS 251:87-101).