thomas miller

shadyI am interested in a variety of questions that deal with the ecology and evolution of diversity. What determines how many species are in a given habitat -- why aren't there more, or fewer? I take a very broad view of questions in this area, including field, lab, and theoretical approaches. I am currently most interested in multispecies patterns of evolution among competitors and what this might tell us about extant patterns of diversity. My lab has been using the protozoa communities inside the water-filled leaves of carnivorous pitcher plants to explore these questions. However, I also have a very different set of projects investigating the long-term forces that structure plant communities on barrier islands.

margaret vogel

In a broad context, Margaret (mvogel@bio.fsu.edu) is interested in the community dynamics and ecological processes that are occurring on a micro-scale. Her current Ph.D research blends her love of the microbial and marine worlds by investigating the relationship between epiphytic microbial communities and their seagrass host and how that relationship is modified by changes in the dynamics and composition of the microbial community. Margaret is most happy when doing field work and spends her free time exploring the waters off of the Florida Gulf Coast.

erica holdridge

eErica is an honorary graduate student in the Miller Lab.  She is actually a graduate student at Yale University with David Vasseur, but is avoiding the cold while sharing common research interests with folks in EE at FSU.  She is interested in how intraspecific trait variation affects the rate of evolution among competitors.  You can find out more about Erica and her research at her own page

recent lab members:

Cata Catalina Cuellar-Gmpeler (Ph.D. U. Texas, 2016) is now faculty at Humboldt State University.  She was a postdoc in the Miller Lab from 2016-2018.  She is broadly interested in microbial community ecology, creating amusing science songs, and generally having fun with biology.  And stuff.  For more about Catalina, her life and research, check her out at Humboldt.  Or try her microbe song at https://soundcloud.com/catalina-cuellar-gempeler/the-bacteria-song.