Andrew King received his Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2011. As a microbial community ecologist, his interests span microbial community biogeography and assembly, as well as the bioinformatics challenges involved in studying these subjects. King has worked in a range of ecosystems including streams, groundwater, alpine tundra, alpine plant-free soils, Australian forests, and Australian forest floodplains. The primary question being investigated with respect to mercury contamination involves how microbial community diversity and mercury methylation gene diversity relate to mercury contamination. Some of King’s initial research results suggest there is a link between methylmercury levels and genetic indicators of mercury methylation potential, but the relationship is dependent on a number of biogeochemical factors. Although he can usually be found coding at his computer, King loves going into the field and getting his hands dirty.
Posted: July 2016
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The ORNL Mercury SFA is sponsored by the Subsurface Biogeochemical Research (SBR) program within the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research.