Blaire T. Steven

Research Scientist

Department of Natural Resources & the Environment

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Research Scientist:

Research Scientist

Education:

• B.Sc., Cellular Molecular and Microbial Biology, University of Calgary, 2001
• M.Sc., Microbiology, McGill University, 2003
• Ph.D., Microbiology, McGill University, 2008

Postdoctoral:

• University of Wyoming, 2009-2011

Expertise:
Dr. Steven is an environmental microbiologist with expertise in soil and aquatic environments. His research interests are to better understand how microbial populations respond and contribute to various climate change scenarios. Professional experience includes classical and molecular microbiology, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and bioinformatics.

Past Research:
Dr. Steven’s research career has involved studying the microbial communities in Canadian high Arctic permafrost, freshwater algal blooms, and biological soil crusts of the Southwest U.S.A.

Current Research:
Microbial communities are exquisitely sensitive to small perturbations in the environment. The ability to predict how microbes respond and contribute to important climate and biogeochemical cycles is required for accurate ecosystem models. Dr. Steven’s work focuses on using molecular and microbial techniques to better describe complex microbial systems. Current systems of interest include Connecticut and Arctic wetlands, harmful algal blooms in Connecticut lakes, and wood-degrading bacterial/fungal communities. 

Publications:

• Steven, B., Kuske C. R., Reed S. C., Belnap J. (2015). Climate change and physical disturbance manipulations result in distinct biological soil crust communities. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 81(21), 7448-7459. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01443-15

• Steven, B., Gallegos-Graves L. V., Yeager C., Belnap J., Kuske, C. R. (2014). Common and distinguishing features of the bacterial and fungal communities in biological soil crusts and shrub root zone soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 69, 302-312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.11.008
• Steven, B., Gallegos-Graves L. V., Belnap J., Kuske C. R. (2013). Dryland soil microbial communities display spatial biogeographic patterns associated with soil depth and soil parent material. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 86(1), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12143
• Steven, B., Lionard M., Kuske C. R., Vincent W. F. (2013). High bacterial diversity of biological soil crusts in water tracks over permafrost in the high Arctic polar desert. PLoS One, 8(8), e71489. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071489
• Steven B., McCann S., Ward N. L. (2012). Pyrosequencing of plastid 23S rRNA genes reveals diverse and dynamic cyanobacterial and algal populations in two eutrophic lakes. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 82(3), 607-615. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2012.01429.x
• Steven, B., Gallegos-Graves L. V., Yeager C. M., Belnap J., Evans R. D., Kuske C. R. (2012). Dryland biological soil crust cyanobacteria show unexpected decreases in abundance under long-term elevated CO2. Environmental Microbiology, 14(12), 3247-3258. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.12011
• Steven, B., Gallegos-Graves L. V., Starkenburg S. R., Chain P. S., Kuske C. R. (2012). Targeted and shotgun metagenomic approaches provide different descriptions of dryland soil microbial communities in a manipulated field study. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 4(2), 248-256. DOI: 10.1111/j.1758-2229.2012.00328.x
• Steven B., Pollard W. H., Greer C. W., Whyte L. G. (2008). Microbial diversity and activity through a permafrost/ground ice core profile from the Canadian high Arctic. Environmental Microbiology, 10(12), 3388-3403. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01746.x
• Steven B., Briggs G., McKay C. P., Pollard W. H., Greer C. W., Whyte L. G. (2007). Characterization of the microbial diversity in a permafrost sample from the Canadian high Arctic using culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 59(2), 513-523. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00247.x