Benjamin Goldman-Huertas, Ph.D.
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Integrative Biology 329 Weill Hall #32000 Berkeley, CA 94720-3200 Email: bgoldmanh [at] berkeley [dot] edu |
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Education
- Ph.D., Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 2018
- A.B. Biology, cum laude, Harvard University, 2005
Research Interests
Herbivorous insects dominate terrestrial diversity and most insects demonstrate some degree of specialization on their host plants. I am interested in the evolution of plant-herbivore interactions, particularly changes in insect sensory systems correlated with specialization on host plants. Using an approach combining imaging, behavioral assays, and genomics in our model herbivore, Scaptomyza flava, and other close relatives, I hope to elucidate the functional and genetic determinants of specialization in insects.
Publications
Goldman-Huertas B., R.M. Mitchell, R.T. Lapoint, C.P. Faucher, J.G. Hildebrand, N.K. Whiteman (In Press) Evolution of herbivory in Drosophilidae linked to loss of behaviors, antennal responses, odorant receptors and ancestral diet. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 10.1073/pnas.1424656112
Gloss A.D., A.C. Nelson-Dittrich, B. Goldman-Huertas, N.K. Whiteman (2013). Maintenance of genetic diversity driven by plant–herbivore interactions. Current Opinions in Plant Biology. 16(4): 443–450. 10.1016/j.pbi.2013.06.002
Russell, J.A., C.F. Funaro, Y.M. Giraldo, B. Goldman-Huertas, D. Suh, D.J.C. Kronauer, C.S. Moreau & N.E. Pierce (2012) A veritable menagerie of heritable bacteria from ants, butterflies, and beyond: broad molecular surveys and a systematic review. PLoS One. 7(12): e51027. 10.1371/journal.pone.0051027
Li J., B. Goldman-Huertas, J. DeYoung, J. Alexander III (2012) Phylogenetics and Diversification of Syringa Inferred from Nuclear and Plastid DNA Sequences. Castanea 77(1): 82–88. 10.2179/11-016
Ramírez S.R., T. Eltz, M.K. Fujiwara, G. Gerlach, B. Goldman-Huertas, N.D. Tsutsui, N.E. Pierce (2011) Asynchronous diversification in a specialized plant-pollinator mutualism. Science 333(6050): 1742-1746. 10.1126/science.1209175
Vila R., C.D. Bell, R. Macniven, B. Goldman-Huertas, R.H. Ree, C.R. Marshall, Zs. Bálint, K. Johnson, D. Benyamini, N.E. Pierce (2011). Phylogeny and paleoecology of Polyommatus blue butterflies show Beringia was a climate-regulated gateway to the New World. Proc. R. Soc. B. 278(1719):2737–2744. 10.1098/rspb.2010.2213
Funaro C.F., D.J.C. Kronauer, C.S. Moreau, B. Goldman-Huertas, N.E. Pierce, J.A. Russell (2011) Army ants harbor a host-specific clade of Entomoplasmatales bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 77(1): 346–350. 10.1128/AEM.01896-10
Russell J.A., B. Goldman-Huertas, C.S. Moreau, L. Baldo, J.K. Stahlhut, J.H. Werren, N.E. Pierce (2009) Specialization and geographic isolation among Wolbachia symbionts from ants and lycaenid butterflies. Evolution 63(3): 624–640. 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00579.x
Russell J.A., C.S. Moreau, B. Goldman-Huertas, M. Fujiwara, D.J. Lohman, N.E. Pierce (2009) Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 106(50): 21236-21241. 10.1073/pnas.0907926106
Gloss A.D., A.C. Nelson-Dittrich, B. Goldman-Huertas, N.K. Whiteman (2013). Maintenance of genetic diversity driven by plant–herbivore interactions. Current Opinions in Plant Biology. 16(4): 443–450. 10.1016/j.pbi.2013.06.002
Russell, J.A., C.F. Funaro, Y.M. Giraldo, B. Goldman-Huertas, D. Suh, D.J.C. Kronauer, C.S. Moreau & N.E. Pierce (2012) A veritable menagerie of heritable bacteria from ants, butterflies, and beyond: broad molecular surveys and a systematic review. PLoS One. 7(12): e51027. 10.1371/journal.pone.0051027
Li J., B. Goldman-Huertas, J. DeYoung, J. Alexander III (2012) Phylogenetics and Diversification of Syringa Inferred from Nuclear and Plastid DNA Sequences. Castanea 77(1): 82–88. 10.2179/11-016
Ramírez S.R., T. Eltz, M.K. Fujiwara, G. Gerlach, B. Goldman-Huertas, N.D. Tsutsui, N.E. Pierce (2011) Asynchronous diversification in a specialized plant-pollinator mutualism. Science 333(6050): 1742-1746. 10.1126/science.1209175
Vila R., C.D. Bell, R. Macniven, B. Goldman-Huertas, R.H. Ree, C.R. Marshall, Zs. Bálint, K. Johnson, D. Benyamini, N.E. Pierce (2011). Phylogeny and paleoecology of Polyommatus blue butterflies show Beringia was a climate-regulated gateway to the New World. Proc. R. Soc. B. 278(1719):2737–2744. 10.1098/rspb.2010.2213
Funaro C.F., D.J.C. Kronauer, C.S. Moreau, B. Goldman-Huertas, N.E. Pierce, J.A. Russell (2011) Army ants harbor a host-specific clade of Entomoplasmatales bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 77(1): 346–350. 10.1128/AEM.01896-10
Russell J.A., B. Goldman-Huertas, C.S. Moreau, L. Baldo, J.K. Stahlhut, J.H. Werren, N.E. Pierce (2009) Specialization and geographic isolation among Wolbachia symbionts from ants and lycaenid butterflies. Evolution 63(3): 624–640. 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00579.x
Russell J.A., C.S. Moreau, B. Goldman-Huertas, M. Fujiwara, D.J. Lohman, N.E. Pierce (2009) Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 106(50): 21236-21241. 10.1073/pnas.0907926106
Honors and Awards
- 2014: 2014: 1st Place Pacific Branch Entomological Society of America PhD student oral competition
- 2013: NSF IGERT Fellowship in Comparative Genomics Fellow, The University of Arizona
- 2013: Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority (CSURM) Fellowship
- 2012: Galileo Circle Scholarship
- 2011: Travel Award, Center for Insect Science, The University of Arizona
- 2011, 2013: Travel Award, Graduate and Professional Student Council, The University of Arizona
- 2010: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Conferences
- June 8–12, 2014: The Society for Molecular Biology & Evolution Conference, San Juan, PR. Presented poster “Evolution of herbivory in Scaptomyza (Drosophilidae) associated with loss of critical yeast volatile receptors.”
- April 6–9, 2014: Entomological Society of America Pacific Branch Meeting, Tucson, AZ. Delivered talk “Evolution of herbivory in Scaptomyza (Drosophilidae) associated with loss of critical yeast volatile receptors.” Awarded 1st place in PhD I oral presentation competition.
- April 3–5, 2014: Deep Genomics Symposium, Tucson, AZ. Presented poster “Evolution of herbivory in Scaptomyza (Drosophilidae) associated with loss of critical yeast volatile receptors.”
- February 24–March 1, 2013: Gordon Research Conference: Plant-Herbivore Interactions, Ventura, CA. Presented poster “Remodeling of chemoreceptor repertoires associated with a transition to herbivory in drosophilids.”
- July 6–10,2012: 1st Joint Conference on Evolutionary Biology, Ottawa, Canada. Delivered talk “Molecular evolution of chemoreceptor genes in Scaptomyza (Drosophilidae).”
- October 2–5, 2011: 6th International Symposium on Molecular Insect Science, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Poster: “Host-plant specialization and the morphology of the Drosophila antennal lobe.
Background
I was born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico where, growing up next to tree frogs and bioluminescent bays, I caught a bad case of biophilia. For my bachelors degree I moved to the mainland and attended Harvard University. There I was a research assistant at the Harvard University Herbaria where I worked on a molecular phylogeny of the lilacs. After graduation I was hired as a curatorial assistant in the Entomology department of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. I worked on a number of projects including imaging the MCZ butterfly collection, generating a molecular phylogeny of the butterfly family Lycaenidae, and surveying the bacterial symbiont diversity of ants and butterflies. At the University of Arizona I studied the evolution of chemoreception and behavior, specifically olfaction, in a recently evolved group of leaf-mining flies in the genus Scaptomyza, closely related to the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. After graduation, I was a post-doc with Lisa Nagy, studying development in the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, using functional genetics and genomics. Here at Berkeley in the Whiteman lab, as a specialist researcher, I will be applying functional genetic and genomic approaches to studying the evolution of herbivory and chemosensation in Scaptomyza.
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Pictures clockwise from the top left: Bush full of Ministrymon leda hairstreaks, Gates Pass at Saguaro National Park; at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum; behavioral assay in construction; image of Scaptomyza flava brain neuropil, Robber fly at Sabino Canyon
Photography by Kristin Waller and Rick Lapoint.
Photography by Kristin Waller and Rick Lapoint.