Gillian Gile

Gillian Gile is an Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, where she leads research on protist diversity, evolution, and symbiotic relationships. Her lab investigates diverse systems including termite hindgut symbionts, plastid evolution, and marine protist associations.

Research Areas: Gile's work spans: 1) Protist diversity in termite hindguts, examining coevolution and functional morphology; 2) Plastid evolution through comparative genomics of non-photosynthetic algae; 3) Self-sealing mechanisms in bioinspired materials; and 4) Marine protist symbioses with phytoplankton and radiolarians.

Her publications demonstrate extensive use of molecular phylogenetics, microscopy, and comparative genomics to understand protist evolution. Recent work focuses on termite symbiont diversity, anaerobic protist genomics, and photosymbiotic relationships in marine environments.

Lab Members: Current researchers include PhD candidates Jonathon Hileman (bio-inspired materials), Nicole Coots (protist genomics), Kali Swichtenberg (termite symbionts), and Chandra Dey (plastid evolution). The lab also hosts undergraduate researchers studying protist biology and evolution.

Awards: John Teagle Professorial Fellowship for research excellence