Dorota Porazinska

Dr. Dorota Porazinska is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Her research focuses on soil biodiversity, plant-soil interactions, and microbial ecology, with emphasis on nematodes and extreme environments. She holds a PhD from the University of Florida (1998) and has held research positions at institutions like the University of Colorado and CSIRO Australia. Her work combines classical ecological methods with cutting-edge molecular tools, including metagenomics and mitochondrial metagenomics.

Education:

• PhD, Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida (1994–1998)
• MS, Ecology, University of Georgia (1992–1994)
• BS/MS, Biology and Earth Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University (1987–1991)

Research Interests: Soil microbiomes, nematode ecology, climate change impacts, biosecurity diagnostics, and biodiversity conservation. She investigates microbial community assembly in extreme environments (e.g., Antarctica, high alpine regions) and agricultural systems, leveraging molecular tools for species identification and ecosystem function studies.

Key Awards:

• Science Ambassador, Science Discovery (2015)
• Distinguished Visiting Scientist, CSIRO (2012)
• STAMPS Fellowship, Marine Biological Laboratory (2011)

Grants & Teaching: Secured over $2M in research funding from NSF, USDA, and others. Active in developing innovative curricula, including digital nematode slide collections and online education tools. Served as Chair of the ENY Seminar Series and Editor of the Journal of Nematology.

Labs & Teams: Leads the WORMS ET AL. research group, focusing on soil biodiversity and molecular diagnostics. Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on projects like the Antarctic cryoconite hole microbiome and nematode gut microbiome assembly.