Education and Professional Experience

• PERT Postdoctoral fellow, 2003-2006, University of Arizona
• Postdoctoral fellow, 2000-2003, University of California, Davis
• Ph.D. 2001 Biology, Macquarie University, Australia
• Visiting fellow, 1998-2000, The Australian National University, Australia

Grants, Awards, and Fellowships

• The American Genetic Association Special Event Award, Pea Aphid Genome Annotation Workshop I, 2007-2008
• USDA Tools, Resources and Genomics for Arthropods and Nematodes, Pea Aphid Genome Annotation Workshop I, 2008
• Paul and Maxine Frohring Foundation
• University of Miami General Research Support Award in the Natural Sciences and Engineering, 2007
• University of Miami Summer Award in the Sciences and Engineering, 2007,
• USDA Funtional Genomics of Agriculturally Important Organisms (2005-2006, PD: Jander, Co-PDS: Moran, Wilson & Gray, Microarray analysis of agriculturally relevant gene expression in the peach-potato aphid, Myzus persicae
• PERT Postdoctoral Fellowship (Sept 2003-August 2006),
• Center for Population Biology, Postdoctoral Travel Award (2003) PI: Wilson
• Australian Postgraduate Award (tuition and stipend)(March 1997- May 2000)
• Vice Chancellor's Commendation for outstanding doctoral research, 2001
• Milthorpe Memorial Prize for excellence in undergraduate plant biology, 1993

Areas of Focus

• Evolutionary Biology

Research Interests

Employing a range of modern molecular techniques and traditional assessments of animal fitness, my reasearch explores how genome evolution is shaped by alternate reproductive modes and by the intimate interactions of symbiotic partners. In my lab we use aphids as a model system to address both these questions. This is because aphids, small sap-sucking insects of the order Hemiptera, are both nutrionally dependent on a 150 million year old symbiosis with the bacterium, Buchnera aphidicola and capable of an extraordinary array of reproductive strategies even within a single species. Elucidation of processes that underlie both the mechanistic nature of aphid symbiosis and assess the evolutionary potential of aphids will increase both our understanding of these fundamental evolutionary processes and contribute to the sustainable management of pest aphid populations globally.

Teaching Interests

My teaching is focused in the areas of genetics and the use of genomic tools to address ecological and evolutionary questions. Specifically, I teach BIL 250- Genetics for majors and a graduate level class in Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics (BIL 556), which is also open to upper division undergraduates. My primary goal as a teacher is to engage my students to think actively and critically in class about the material being presented so as to push at the boundaries of their understanding and world-view.

Selected Publications

• Wilson ACC, Sternberg LdSL, Hurley KB (2011) Aphids alter host-plant nitrogen isotope fractionation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108, 10220-10224.
• Shigenobu S, Wilson ACC (2011) Genomic revelations of a mutualism: the pea aphid and its obligate bacterial symbiont Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 68, 1297-1309.
• Price DRG, Duncan RP, Shigenobu S, Wilson ACC (2011) Genome expansion and differential expression of amino acid transporters at the aphid/Buchnera symbiotic interface. Molecular Biology and Evolution 28, 3113-3126.
• Gerardo NM, Wilson ACC (2011) The power of paired genomes. Molecular Ecology 20, 2038-2040.
• Duncan RP, Nathanson L, Wilson ACC (2011) Novel male-biased expression in paralogs of the aphid slimfast nutrient amino acid transporter expansion. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11, 253.
• Wilson ACC, Ashton PD, Calevro F, Charles H, Colella S, Febvay G, Jander G, Kushlan PF, Macdonald SJ, Schwartz JF, Thomas GH, Douglas AE (2010) Genomic insight into the amino acid relations of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum with its symbiotic bacterium Buchnera aphidicola. Insect Molecular Biology 19, 249-258.
  

Funding

• The National Science Foundation, REU Supplement: Characterization of Aphid Nutrient Amino Acid Transporters with Focus on the Symbiotic Interface, PI: Wilson, 2012
• The National Science Foundation, Characterization of Aphid Nutrient Amino Acid Transporters with Focus on the Symbiotic Interface, PI: Wilson, CoPI: Price, 2011-2014
• USDA Arthropod and Nematode Biology and Management: Suborganismal Biology, Program Code 91112, Functional Analysis of Proteins and Metabolites in Aphid Saliva, PD: Jander, Co-PD: Wilson, 2010-2013