Megan Elizabeth Frederickson
Alma materHarvard University
Stanford University
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Toronto
Harvard University
ThesisThe intertwined population biology of symbiotic ants and plants in the Amazon (2006)

Megan Frederickson is a Canadian evolutionary biologist who is a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. Her research considers the evolution of cooperation and the ecological genetics of mutualism.

Early life and education

As a teenager, Frederickson volunteered for a rainforest exhibition in an aquarium.[1] Frederickson was an undergraduate student at Harvard University. She graduated in 2001, and moved to the West Coast of the United States for graduate studies. She joined the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University as a doctoral student.[2] Her research considered the biology of ants and plants in the Amazon rainforest.[3][4]

Research and career

Frederickson was inducted into the Harvard Society of Fellows in 2006.[5] At Harvard she worked alongside Naomi Pierce on mutually beneficial relationships in ecology. Together they showed that the ways symbiotic host species employ their symbionts is equivalent to the ways employers treat their workers.[6] The process of mutualism involves species such as plants hosting symbionts such as bacteria. Hosts act to reward cooperative symbionts, such as soybean plants directing food toward specific nodules whilst simultaneously killing off those with unhelpful bacteria. Various theories have been proposed to describe such symbioses, including host sanction theory and partner fidelity feedback. Whilst the former describes a scenario in which the host adapts to punish those who cheat and reward those who cooperate,[7] the latter describes a case where the symbionts evolve to try and please the host. Working with an economist, Pierce and Frederickson showed that employment contract theory and mutualisms could be described by similar mathematics.[6]

Frederickson joined the University of Toronto in 2009, where she developed a high-throughput method to better understand the interactions between microbiomes and their hosts. She showed that over time, microbes evolve to develop more beneficial relationships with their hosts.[6][8] She studied the relationships between ants and their hosts,[9][10] showing that ants serve to protect their hosts by monitoring the genes responsible for foraging behaviour. These genes decide how the animal forages for food, and how much benefit the partner plants received. When these genes were activated, the ants recruit more workers to attack herbivores, which ultimately protects plans.[11][12]

In 2019, Frederickson returned to Harvard University as a medical fellow in the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. During her fellowship she worked on a book that explored the concept of mutualism in ecology,[13] and how it can be used to better understand the microbiome.[5][14]

Frederickson has written for The Conversation.[15] During the COVID-19 pandemic, she wrote about how people with caring responsibilities – mainly women – could not simultaneously balance home schooling, online teaching and scientific research.[16]

Selected publications

  • Jon G Sanders; Scott Powell; Daniel J C Kronauer; Heraldo L Vasconcelos; Megan E Frederickson; Naomi E Pierce (6 January 2014). "Stability and phylogenetic correlation in gut microbiota: lessons from ants and apes". Molecular Ecology. 23 (6): 1268–1283. doi:10.1111/MEC.12611. ISSN 0962-1083. PMID 24304129. Wikidata Q35058796.
  • Marco Archetti; István Scheuring; Moshe Hoffman; Megan E Frederickson; Naomi E Pierce; Douglas W Yu (20 October 2011). "Economic game theory for mutualism and cooperation". Ecology Letters. 14 (12): 1300–1312. doi:10.1111/J.1461-0248.2011.01697.X. ISSN 1461-023X. PMID 22011186. Wikidata Q34051578.
  • Megan E Frederickson; Michael J Greene; Deborah M Gordon (1 September 2005). "Ecology: 'Devil's gardens' bedevilled by ants". Nature. 437 (7058): 495–496. doi:10.1038/437495A. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 16177778. Wikidata Q39011234.

References

  1. ↑ Frederickson, Megan; Conversation, The. "Ant invasion: How pets become pests". phys.org. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  2. ↑ Shwartz, Mark (2005-09-26). "Ants, not evil spirits, create poisonous devil's gardens in the Amazon rainforest". Stanford University. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  3. ↑ Frederickson Megan Elizabeth (2006). The intertwined population biology of symbiotic ants and plants in the Amazon (Thesis). OCLC 71209082.
  4. ↑ von Bubnoff, Andreas (2005-09-21). "Ants make 'devil's garden' of Eden". Nature. doi:10.1038/news050921-6. ISSN 1476-4687.
  5. 1 2 "Megan E. Frederickson". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  6. 1 2 3 "Economic theory suggests symbiosis is driven by simple self-interest, not rewards or punishment". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  7. ↑ "It's Not Cheating Unless a Species Gets Hurt". The UCSB Current. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  8. ↑ Toronto, University of. "Biologists shed light on mystery of how microbes evolve and affect hosts". phys.org. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  9. ↑ Aulakh, Raveena (2014-12-23). "European fire ant helping spread of invasive plant". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  10. ↑ "Ants Are Friendly To Some Trees, But Not Others". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  11. ↑ "Scientists show molecular basis for ants acting as 'bodyguards' for plants". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  12. ↑ "U of T scientists show molecular basis for ants acting as 'bodyguards' to plants". University of Toronto News. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  13. ↑ "Meet the Animals That Get Ahead By Cheating". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  14. ↑ "Biologists at U of T and University of Illinois shed light on how microbes evolve and affect hosts". University of Toronto News. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  15. ↑ "Megan Frederickson". The Conversation. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  16. ↑ Viglione, Giuliana (2020-05-20). "Are women publishing less during the pandemic? Here's what the data say". Nature. 581 (7809): 365–366. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01294-9. PMID 32433639. S2CID 218766620.
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