Mr Stephen Taerum

PhD Student
Tree Protection Co-operative Programme

Research Interests

My primary research interests are the ecological and evolutionary implications of symbiosis, especially between arthropods and microbes. I am studying the diversity, population dynamics, and community ecology of symbiotic bark beetles, mites, fungi and bacteria in China's conifer forests. My advisors are Prof. Mike Wingfield, Prof. XuDong Zhou, and Wilhelm DeBeer.

 

While in China, I conduct my field work in Yunnan, Qinghai, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. I am based out of the Chinese Eucalypt Research Centre in Zhanjiang, Guangdong.

 

I obtained a BSc in Environmental Biology at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) in 2003. Afterwards, I completed an MA at the University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas, USA) in 2005, supervised by Dr. Cameron Currie and Dr. Helen Alexander. My MA research was on host-parasite coevolution between leaf-cutter ants and their fungal symbionts.

Other Interests

My main hobbies are photography, cooking and beer (drinking and, hopefully soon, brewing). My passion for beer is perhaps only surpassed by my passion for (ice) hockey and college basketball. I cheer for the four greatest sports teams on earth: Team Canada's men's and women's hockey teams, the Edmonton Oilers, and the University of Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team. Otherwise, I listen to a wide variety of music, and read books by a wide variety of authors.