a little about me
Born and raised in Toledo, OH, I graduated with my B.A. in Microbiology from Miami University (Oxford, OH). Unsure what to do post-graduation, I worked at the US EPA (Cincinnati, OH) with Dr. Jorge Santo Domingo conducting research exploring the microbiomes of potable water and learning numerous molecular and cultivation-based techniques. After falling in love with environmental microbiology, I began my academic journey at Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant, MI) in the Learman lab as a Master’s student researching how identical Microbacterium spp. isolates, at the 16S rRNA level, differed in their genomic content and physiological responses to chromate. In May of 2019, I graduated with my Ph.D. from Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA) where my dissertation used high-throughput cultivation to help facilitate the genomic and physiological characterization of previously uncultivated and important marine/freshwater microbial clades.
After a brief stint as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA), I joined the Coleman Lab at the University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) as a Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Marine Microbiology. My research focuses on the mechanisms that facilitate population stability in microorganisms and their application in predicting microbial community responses to ecological disturbances (e.g., viral predation, nutrient fluctuations), using a combination of fundamental microbiological techniques and ‘omic-based approaches.
Outside of the lab and office, I enjoy cooking, hiking, backpacking, scuba diving, and Crossfit.
Michael W. Henson, Ph.D 