Steven Short

Education

• BSc (hons.), University of British Columbia, 1995
• PhD, University of British Columbia, 2002

Current Courses

• BIO215S: Laboratory in Molecular Biology & Genetics
• BIO373S: Microbial Ecology

Research

Broadly speaking, my research focuses on the molecular ecology of aquatic microorganisms. As the major primary producers in freshwater and marine ecosystems, phytoplankton are key components of aquatic food webs and global biogeochemical cycles. Viruses are now known to be abundant in all aquatic environments, and many parasitize phytoplankton suggesting that they are important agents of phytoplankton mortality and are themselves key players in aquatic food webs. Hence, my research focuses on understanding the role of viruses in phytoplankton ecology. To that end, I use quantitative molecular techniques to examine virus and phytoplankton community and population dynamics in both natural environments and laboratory cultures.

Current Lab Members

• Shuwen Liu, MSc Student
• Sophie Anderson, MSc Student
• Karolina Szlapa, PhD Student
• Ichiro Inamoto, Research Technician

Become A Lab Member

Students interested in microbial ecology and aquatic microbiology research should contact Dr. Short directly (steven.short@utoronto.ca) to discuss opportunities for graduate studies in the lab.

Recent Publications

For a complete list of publications, visit Dr. Short's Google Scholar page.