Associate professor

University affiliation

• Institute of Arctic Biology
• College of Natural Science and Mathematics
• Department of Biology and Wildlife
• International Arctic Research Center

Contact information

• Email: dmdrown@alaska.edu
• Phone: (907) 474-2602

Media contact

University Relations

• Email: uaf-news@alaska.edu

Areas of expertise

• Biology

Research interests/biography

Host-symbiont interactions, genomics, emerging pathogens, coevolution.

My research program is focused on microbiological questions related to ecosystem change and the surveillance of infectious diseases, which I address through the lens of emerging next-generation sequencing tools. My primary research emphases are:

1. Examining the effects of thawing permafrost on microbes in the overlying soil and some resultant impacts on boreal forest plant growth.
2. Exploring the impacts of disturbance on the resistome, environmental antibiotic resistance genes.
3. Tracking the spread of emerging human (e.g., SARS-CoV-2) and veterinary (e.g., African swine fever virus) pathogens.

My research incorporates fieldwork, molecular analysis, experimental laboratory research and mathematical modeling to study species interactions. My research team is committed to broadening participation in STEM.