معرفی
Dr Ailsa McLean is a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the ecological and evolutionary roles of symbiotic microorganisms in insects, particularly aphids and their natural enemies. She investigates how microbial symbionts influence host resistance against parasitoids and pathogens, and how these interactions shape ecological communities.
Key research interests include symbiont-mediated defense mechanisms, community ecology, and the evolutionary implications of symbiosis. McLean employs laboratory and field experiments to study aphid systems, exploring topics like symbiont co-infections, host plant specialization, and the cascading effects of symbiotic interactions on food webs.
Her work has revealed symbionts' roles in modulating herbivore-induced plant volatiles, influencing parasitoid attraction, and driving ecological community structures. McLean's findings challenge simplistic views of host-symbiont relationships, emphasizing the complexity of microbial contributions to host ecology and evolution.
- Awards: Royal Society University Research Fellowship
- Labs/Teams: Collaborative studies on aphid-microbe interactions and community ecology.
