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
2009 Junior Faculty Summer Fellowship Award, University of Oklahoma ($6,000)
2008 Junior Faculty Summer Fellowship Award, University of Oklahoma ($6,000)
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.
PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
A.V. Callaghan, I.A. Davidova, L.M. Gieg, V.A. Parisi, K. Savage, J.M. Suflita, J.J. Kukor, and B. Wawrik. Diversity of Benyzl- and Alkylsuccinate Synthase Genes in Hydrocarbon-Impacted Environments and Enrichment Cultures. Environmental Science and Technology. In Press.
Wawrik, B., and B. Harriman. 2010. Rapid, Colorimetric Quantification of Lipid from Algal Cultures. The Journal of Microbiological Methods. Vol. 80, p. 262-266.
B. Witte, D. John, B. Wawrik, D. Dayans, J.H. Paul, and F.R. Tabita. 2010. Functional Prokaryotic RubisCO from an Oceanic Metagenomic Library. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 76: 2997 - 3003.
Wawrik, B., A.V. Callaghan, D.A. Bronk. 2009. Inorganic and Organic Nitrogen Use by Synechococcus and Diatoms on the West Florida Shelf Measured Using Stable Isotope Probing. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 75:6662-6670.
Callaghan, A. V., B. Wawrik, S. M. Ni Chadhain, L. Y. Young, and G. J. Zylstra. 2008. Anaerobic alkane-degrading strain AK-01 contains two alkylsuccinate synthase genes. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 366:142-8.
Babcock, D. A., B. Wawrik, J. H. Paul, L. McGuinness, and L. J. Kerkhof. 2007. Rapid screening of a large insert BAC library for specific 16S rRNA genes using TRFLP. Journal of Microbiological Methods 71:156-61.
Wawrik, B., D. Kutliev, U. A. Abdivasievna, J. J. Kukor, G. J. Zylstra, and L. Kerkhof. 2007. Biogeography of actinomycete communities and type II polyketide synthase genes in soils collected in New Jersey and Central Asia. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73:2982-9.
John, D.E., B. Wawrik, F.R. Tabita, and J.H. Paul. 2006. Gene Diversity and Organization in rbcL-containing Genome Fragments from Uncultivated Synechococcus in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine Ecology Progress Series 316:23-33.
Wawrik, B., L. J. Kerkhof, J. J. Kukor, and G. J. Zylstra. 2005. Effect of different carbon sources on community composition of bacterial enrichments from soil. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71:6776-83.
Wawrik, B., L. J. Kerkhof, G. J. Zylstra, and J. J. Kukor. 2005. Identification of unique type II polyketide synthase genes in soil. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71:2232-8.
Corredor, J. E., B. Wawrik, J. H. Paul, H. Tran, L. Kerkhof, J. M. Lopez, A. Dieppa, and O. Cardenas. 2004. Geochemical rate-RNA integration study: ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase gene transcription and photosynthetic capacity of planktonic photoautotrophs. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70:5459-68.
Wawrik, B., J. H. Paul, D. A. Bronk, D. John, and M. Gray. 2004. High rates of ammonium recycling drive phytoplankton productivity in the offshore Mississippi River plume. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 35:175–184.
Wawrik, B., and J. H. Paul. 2004. Phytoplankton community structure and productivity along the axis of the Mississippi River plume in oligotrophic Gulf of Mexico waters. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 35:185–196.
Gray, M., B. Wawrik, J. Paul, and E. Casper. 2003. Molecular detection and quantitation of the red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis in the marine environment. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 69:5726-30.
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 F. R. Tabita. 2002. Real-time PCR quantification of rbcL (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) mRNA in diatoms and pelagophytes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68:3771-9.
Paul, J. H., A. Alfreider, and B. Wawrik. 2000. Micro- and macrodiversity in rbcL sequences in ambient phytoplankton populations from the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Ecology Progress Series 189:9-18.
BOOK CHAPERS
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., T. Doolotkeldieva, D. Kutliev, L. J. Kerkhof, G. J. Zylstra, and J. J. Kukor. Prospecting Uncultured Microbial Biodiversity. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Gardens. In Press.
INVITED SEMINARS
Carbon and Nitrogen Flux in Marine Phytoplankton Communities from a Molecular Perspective: Community Ecology, Metagenomics, and Stable Isotope Probing. Montana State University, Novermber 30th 2009.
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
J. Ricci, M. Crespo-Medina, B. Wawrik, and C. Vetriani. Metatranscriptomic analysis of microbial biofilms from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. 110th ASM General Meeting, San Diego, May 23-27, 2010.
B. Wawrik, J.D. Van Nostrand, and J. Zhou. Transcriptomic Analysis of Bacterial Communities Found in Gulf of Mexico Surface Water via a Comprehensive Microarray for Biogeochemical, Ecological and Environmental Processes (GeoChip 3.0). Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland Oregon 22-26 February 2010.
W.B. Boling and B. Wawrik. Investigation of Bacterial Nitrate uptake on the West Florida Shelf by Means of DNA based Stable Isotope Probing. Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland Oregon 22-26 February 2010.
B. Wawrik, R.N. Austin, J.T. Groves, J.J. Kukor, R. Rabus, J.M. Suflita, F. Widdel, L.Y. Young, G.J. Zylstra, and A.V. Callaghan. The Complete Genome Sequence Of Desulfatibacillum alkenivorans Strain AK-01, A Sulfate-Reducing Delta-Proteobacterium That Activates Alkanes Via Fumarate Addition. international Symposium on Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oil Systems (ISMOS-2), Aarhus, Denmark from June 17-19, 2009.
Callaghan, A.V., L.M. Gieg, R. S. Norman, V.A. Parisi, I.A. Davidova, J.M. Suflita, J.J. Kukor, and B. Wawrik. Molecular Detection Of Genes Involved In Anaerobic Alkane Degradation In Hydrocarbon-Impacted Environments And Enrichment Cultures. International Symposium on Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oil Systems (ISMOS-2), Aarhus, Denmark from June 17-19, 2009.
Rodgers-Vieira, E., B. Wawrik, T. Doolotkeldieva, L. J. Kerkhof, J. J. Kukor, G. J. Zylstra. Spatial Diversity of alkB Genes Recovered from Hexadecane Enriched Sediment. 109th ASM General Meeting, Philadelphia May 17-20, 2009.
Witte, B. H., D. John, J. H. Paul, B. Wawrik, F. R. Tabita. Functional Prokaryotic RubisCO from an Oceanic Metagenomic Library. Gordon Research Conference: Molecular Basis of Microbial One-Carbon Metabolism. July 20-25, 2008 at Bates College.
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
2009 (August) -- Field investigation of microbial processes associated with methane production and bio-corrosion in the San Juan Basin coal formation. Dr. Amy Callaghan and I led the OU research team in this six day field experiment.
2008 (September) – R/V Pelican (LUMCON) Ecology of Harmful Algal Blooms: I participated in a field experiment investigating nitrogen nutrition in K. brevis during a bloom.
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
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
American Association for Microbiology (ASM)
American Association of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)
JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEWED FOR (last 2 years)
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
The ISME Journal
PROPOSALS REVIEWED FOR (last 2 years)
NSF Cellular Systems Cluster
NSF Emerging Topics in Biogeochemical Cycles (ETBC)
UPR Sea Grant
NSF Biological Oceanography