Julie Olson

Associate Professor

Phone: (205) 348-2633

Email: jolson@bama.ua.edu

Dr. Olson’s Lab Webpage

Julie Olson received a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Engineering and Microbial Ecology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997. She completed her postdoctoral research at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. Dr. Olson was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama in 2001. She has been an Associate Professor at the University of Alabama since 2007.

Research Interests

  • Sponge-microbial interactions, determine what controls microbial community structure within a host organism
  • Increasing microbial recoverability from various environments, create and apply novel media and media additions in order to cultivate the largest percent of the community
  • Elucidation of microbially-produced secondary metabolites that serve as anti-microbials
  • Applying molecular genetic techniques to examine the microbial communities associated with various environments, particular focus on functional genes


Selected Publications

  • Farris, M.H., C. Duffy, R.H. Findlay, and J.B. Olson.  In Press.  Streptomyces scopuliridis sp. nov., a bacteriocin-producing soil streptomycete.  Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol.
  • Olson, J.B., and C.A. Kellogg.  2010.  Microbial  ecology of corals, sponges, and algae in mesophotic coral environments.  FEMS Microb. Ecol. 73:17-30
  • Caldwell, K.A., M.L. Tucci, J. Armagost, T.W. Hodges, J. Chen, S.B. Memon, J.E. Blalock, S.M. DeLeon, R.H. Findlay, Q. Ruan, P.J. Weber, D.G. Standaert, J.B. Olson, and G.A. Caldwell.  2009.  Investigating bacterial sources of toxicity as an environmental contributor to dopaminergic neurodegeneration.  PLoS ONE 4(10): e7227. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007227.
  • Hodges, T.W., and J.B. Olson.  2009.  Molecular comparison of bacterial communities within iron-flocculent mats associated with submarine volcanoes along the Kermadec Arc.  Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75:1650-1657.
  • Gochfeld, D.G., and J.B. Olson.  2009.  A novel feeding behavior by an ambush predator on toxic prey.  Coral Reefs. 28:155.
  • Olson, J.B., D.K. Harmody, A. Bej, and P.J. McCarthy. 2007. Tsukamurella spongiae sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from a deep-water marine sponge. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 57: 1478-1481.
  • Farris, M.H. and J.B. Olson.  2007.  Detection of Actinobacteria cultivated from environmental samples reveals bias in universal primers. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 45:376-381.