Lisa Waidner, Ph.D.

Dr. Lisa Waidner, an Assistant Professor, has a Ph.D. from the College of Marine Science at the University of Delaware. Before she joined UWF in 2016, Waidner had the unique opportunity to work in several small biotechnology companies in the capacity of genetic engineering, phylogenetics, and directed evolution to improve biofuel and bioenergy-producing microorganisms.  Her academic mentors were Richard Karpel (UMBC, M.S. program), David Kirchman (Delaware, Ph.D. program), Thomas Hanson (Delaware, post-doctoral position), and co-mentors Robin Morgan and Joan Burnside (Delaware, post-doctoral fellowship). 
Her findings have been published in the Journal of Shellfish Research, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Virology, and Environmental Virology. Topics have included aspects of Marek’s disease, virioplankton populations, and crab populations near the mouth of the Delaware Bay. Waidner’s current research interests are in environmental microbiology, microbial ecology, and bioremediation in oceans, coastal waters, inland bays, and rivers. 
These studies include developing a better understanding of global elemental cycles, as well as ‘applied’ bioremediation research.  Her work uses model bacteria called the aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAP), which are a diverse group of proteobacteria that may be involved in light-stimulated uptake of dissolved organic matter and of point-source pollution and legacy contaminants.  Cultured and uncultured AAP are used in molecular biological, microbiological, and ecological studies on this diverse group of freshwater, estuarine, and marine bacteria. Dr. Waidner has taught classes in Introduction to Bioinformatics and Environmental Genomics and is currently a UWF instructor for Genetics Lab.  She is now working with undergraduate students to characterize unique AAP bacteria from coastal and inland waters in and around the Pensacola Bay system.