Ellie Harrison

Dr. Ellie Harrison is a Lecturer in the School of Biosciences at the University of Sheffield, UK. She holds an Independent P3 Research Fellowship (2017–present) and has extensive postdoctoral experience at institutions like the University of York and Liverpool. Her research focuses on microbial ecology and evolution, particularly bacterial-plasmid interactions, coevolutionary dynamics, and horizontal gene transfer impacts.

Education: PhD in Evolutionary Biology from Imperial College London (2006–2010), with prior postdoctoral roles exploring host-symbiont coevolution and bacterial plasmid dynamics. Her work bridges molecular mechanisms and ecological outcomes, emphasizing genetic conflicts and adaptation strategies.

Research interests emphasize how mobile genetic elements shape microbial communities, including plasmid fitness costs, compensatory mutations, and phage-bacteria coevolution. Recent studies highlight plasmid manipulation of host behavior and the evolutionary implications of chromosomal vs. plasmid-encoded mutations.

No scientific awards are listed in the provided texts. She has supervised no formally listed students but contributes to academic training through her teaching and research groups. Her work intersects with agricultural microbiology (e.g., soybean symbiosis studies) and digital art-activism collaborations.

Labs/Teams: Active in microbial evolution research groups at the University of Sheffield, focusing on experimental evolution and microbial community dynamics.