I am an ecologist who studies the microbiology of animals and places where animals live. As a member of Jonathan Eisen's lab, I am also actively learning about science blogging, tweeting and open science.

I am an evolutionary biologist and a Professor at U. C. Davis. My lab is in the UC Davis Genome Center and I hold appointments in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Medicine and the Department of Evolution and Ecology in the College of Biological Sciences. In addition I hold an Adjunct appointment at the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, CA. My research focuses on the origin of novelty (how new processes and functions originate). To study this I focus on sequencing and analyzing genomes of organisms, especially microbes and using phylogenomic analysis (see my lab site here which has more information on lab activities). I am an author on more than 200 scientific publications as well as an Evolution textbook and a variety of other things. In addition to my research I have been heavily involved in many "open science" activities. Among my open science activities: * I have been involved in PLOS Biology from its beginning - I was one of the founding Academic Editors, subsequently served as Academic Editor in Chief and am now the Chair of their Advisory Board. * Editorial Board of BioRXiv * Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award for Open Science in 2012 * Active and award winning science blogger and microblogger

David Coil is responsible for supervising undergraduate research projects in microbial ecology and genomics in the Eisen Lab. Also assisting existing research projects in the lab including microbial sampling, metagenomics, and genome assembly. And finally, performing public outreach in Microbiology through the microBEnet project, which is focused on communication in the context of studies of microbiology of the built environment. David received his PhD in 2005 from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington, working on retroviruses. Since then he has lectured at the UW, done a post-doc in Belgium working on Legionella, and helps direct a non-profit in Alaska called Ground Truth Trekking. Follow him on Twitter: @davidacoil

Molecular geneticist and cell/systems/synthetic biologist. I cut my teeth on cell envelope biogenesis (studying how bacteria build the wall that helps keep antibiotics out) and in the process acquired a deep appreciation for the power and elegance of bacterial genetics. Currently, I am (very) broadly interested in dissecting, constructing, and evolving regulatory networks.

On a mission to bring about a world in which scientists share their research openly online and in real-time while collaborating with peers worldwide.