UWaterloo Panel: Unearthing Ancient Environments with Microbes

Thursday, January 24, 2019 11:45 am - 1:00 pm EST (GMT -05:00)

A panel presentation and discussion, hosted by the Office of Research and the Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research, featuring Water Institute member Kirsten Müller will explore the evolution of microbes.

Learn more about the other panellists and register to attend.

Kirsten Müller

Red algae, the evolution of sexual reproduction, and multicellularity 

Kirsten MullerKirsten Müller is a professor of biology and assistant vice-president, graduate studies and postdoctoral affairs, at Waterloo. She is considered a world expert on Bangiales – an order of red algae that is an ancient lineage with some members in the fossil record as far back as 1.2 billion years. In addition to the significant economic importance in food and aquaculture, the red algae are a critical group in the evolution of photosynthetic life on earth. For example, red algae are the common ancestors to the chloroplasts contained in the division Heterokontophyta (i.e. large kelps common to Atlantic and Pacific coasts). Professor Müller will discuss the evolution of photosynthetic life and why studying the early members of the red algae is helpful in understanding the evolution of sexual reproduction and multicellularity.