Research interests

As a microbial ecologist, my research interests remain primarily in the elucidation of species diversity and the determination of the functional role that each species plays within a community. Within this broad description, particular focus is placed on examining, cultivating, and characterizing microaerophilic organisms, defining potential consortial interactions between microorganisms and/or their hosts, and designing methods to increase microbial recoverability. Current estimates suggest that microbiologists have cultivated and studied less than 1% of extant microorganisms, indicating that a great deal of microbial diversity exists that has not yet been examined. Combining novel cultivation methods and molecular analyses to address ecological questions provides substantially more information about the system and its functions than either method alone. Determining the genetic diversity within a sample using molecular tools allows us to optimize cultivation media for the organisms shown to be present and provides a framework for comparison of retrieved organisms. Molecular tools are also used to localize and identify individual cells within a community by function or genetic affiliation. My current and future research interests revolve around combining molecular analyses (e.g., DGGE, in situ PCR, FISH) with culturing techniques such that the maximal amount of information can be gained on the ecosystem, its functions, and the individual microorganisms.

Selected publications

Olson, J.B., D.K. Harmody, and P.J. McCarthy. 2002. Marine sponges harbor alpha proteobacteria that display branching rod morphology. Accepted by FEMS Microbiol. Lett.

Olson, J.B., C.C. Lord, and P.J. McCarthy. 2000. Improved recoverability of microbial colonies from marine sponge samples. Microbial Ecology. 40:139-147.

Olson, J.B., R.W. Litaker, and H.W. Paerl. 1999. Ubiquity of heterotrophic diazotrophs in marine microbial mats. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 19:29-36.

Olson, J.B., T.F. Steppe, R.W. Litaker, and H.W. Paerl. 1998. N2-fixing microbial consortia associated with the ice cover of Lake Bonney, Antarctica. Microb. Ecol. 36:231-238.

Steppe, T.F., J.B. Olson, H.W. Paerl, R.W. Litaker, and J. Belnap. 1996. Consortial N2 fixation: a strategy for meeting nitrogen requirements of marine and terrestrial cyanobacterial mats. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 21:149-156