A pioneer in the study of microbial diversity, Dr. Jonathan Eisen focuses on the development and use of high-throughput laboratory and computational methods to study microbes by analyzing their genomes.

Eisen’s researches communities of microbes and how they provide new functions – to each other or to a host. His study systems include boiling acid pools, surface ocean waters, agents of many diseases, and the microbial ecosystems in and on plants and animals. Eisen is coordinating the largest microbial sequencing project to date – a genomic encyclopedia. This work is underway at the DOE Joint Genome Institute where Eisen holds an Adjunct Appointment. The goal is to create a “Field Guide to the Microbes,” much as exists for birds or trees.

Eisen is a vocal advocate for “open science” – especially – “open access’ to scientific publications. He is the Academic Editor-in-Chief of PLoS Biology, and an active and award-winning blogger. A full professor at the University of California, Davis with appointments in the School of Medicine and the College of Biological Sciences, Eisen has co-authored more than 200 papers and a highly-rated Evolution textbook.

Prior to UC Davis he was on the faculty of The Institute for Genomic Research and held an Adjunct Appointment at the Johns Hopkins University. Eisen earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences from Stanford University and an A.B. in biology from Harvard College.