Khrys Duddleston, Ph.D.

Dr. Khrys Duddleston
Professor & Assistant Dean Biological Sciences
Department of Biological Sciences
CPSB 101J
(907) 786-7752
knduddleston@alaska.edu

Education

  • 1998 Ph.D. Microbiology, Oregon State University
  • 1993 M.S. Biology, Va. Tech
  • 1990 B.S. Biology (Option: Microbiology), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Va. Tech)

Teaching Responsibilities

  • MBIO A450/650: Microbial Ecology
  • MBIO A410: Microbial Physiology
  • MBIO A460-660 Host Microbe Interactions

Research Interests

Research in the Duddleston lab currently focuses on three areas of inquiry: gut microbial ecology, soil microbial ecology and diversity, and aquatic environmental microbiology. Specifically, the Duddleston lab is examining the gut microbial community of arctic ground squirrels. The radical shifts in physiology experienced by arctic ground squirrels make then an excellent model with which to study a) the response of microbial populations to changes in their environment and b) the complex reciprocal interactions between the host and the gut microbiota as they relate to health and disease. We are particularly interested in the potential beneficial role of gut microbes in protein conservation during hibernation and in the increase in adiposity that occurs in advance of hibernation. The Duddleston lab also focuses on the impact of contaminants such as herbicides, oil and oil-spill response chemicals on the diversity of microbial communities in soil and water. Lastly, the Duddleston lab also examines sources and transport mechanisms of microbial contaminants in freshwater systems in urban and rural settings, with the ultimate goal of understanding the link between source, transport, and human disease.

Publications

  • Tomco, Patrick L., Khrystyne N. Duddleston, Adrienne K. Driskill, Jasmine Hatton, Kirsten Grond, Toshia L. Wrenn, Matthew A. Tarr, David C. Podgorski and Phoebe A. Zito. 2022. Dissolved organic matter production from herder application and in-situ burning of crude oil at high latitudes: Bioavailable molecular composition patterns and microbial community diversity effects. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 424:127598. (online November 2021; print February 2022) https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jhazmat.2021.127598
  • Rouse, Natalie M., Katrina L. Counihan, Deborah D. Boege-Tobin, Caroline E. C Goertz, and Khrystyne N. Duddleston. 2022. Habitat associations between Streptococcus lutetiensis and Streptococcus phoacae in the marine environment. Marine Ecology. 2022;43;e12689. (online November 2021; print February 2022) https://doi.org/10.1111/maec. 12689
  • Grond, Kirsten, Courtney C. Kurtz, Jasmine Hatton, Michelle M. Sonsalla, and Khrystyne N. Duddleston. 2021. Gut microbiome is affected by gut region but robust to host physiological changes in captive active-season ground squirrels. Animal Microbiome. 3(56). https://doi.org/10.1186/ s42523-021-00117-0
  • Sonsalla, Michelle, Santidra Love, Lauren Summers, Hannah Follett, Aminata Bojang, Khrystyne N. Duddleston, and Courtney C. Kurtz. 2021. Development of metabolic inflammation during pre-hibernation fattening in thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus). Journal of Comparative Physiology B. 191:941-953. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s00360-021-01384-8            
  • Rouse, Natalie M., Katrina L. Counihan, Caroline E. C. Goertz and Khrystyne N. Duddleston. 2021. Competency of common northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) prey items to harbor Streptococcus infantarius and Streptococcus phocae. Dis. Aquatic Org. 143:69-78. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao035 62
  • Zhang, Lin, Xiao Liu, Khrys Duddleston and Mark E. Hines. 2020. The effects of pH, temperature, and humic-like substances on anaerobic carbon degradation and methanogenesis in ombrotrophic and minerotrophic Alaskan peatlands. Aquat Geochem. 26:221-224. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10498-020-09372-0
  • Tomco, Patrick L., Steven S. Seefeldt, Katinna Rodriguez-Baisi, Jasmine J. Hatton and Khrystyne N. Duddleston. 2020. Sub-Arctic field degradation of metsulfuron-methyl in two Alaskan soils and microbial community composition effects. Water, Air, & Soil Poll. 231:157. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s11270-020-04528-8
  • Hatton, Jasmine J., Timothy J. Stevenson, C. Loren Buck and Khrystyne N. Duddleston. 2017. Diet affects arctic ground squirrel gut microbial metatranscriptome independent of community structure. Environ. Microbiol. 19(4):1518-1535.  PMID: 28251799; PMCID: PMC5417852.
  • Mutter, Edda A., William E. Schnabel and Khrystyne N. Duddleston. 2016. Partitioning and transport behavior of pathogen indicator organisms at four cold region solid waste sites. J. Cold Reg. Eng. 10.1061/(ASCE)CR.1943-5495.0000111
  • Tomco, Patrick L., Khrystyne N. Duddleston, Emily Jo Schultz, Birgit Hagedorn, Timothy J. Stevenson and Steven S. Seefeldt. 2016. Field degradation of aminopyralid and clopyralid and microbial community response to application in Alaskan soils. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 35(2):485-493. DOI: 10.1002/etc.3222
  • Lupfer, Gwen, Eric S. Murphy, Zoe Merculieff, Kori Radcliffe and Khrystyne N. Duddleston. 2015. Adapting to alcohol: Dwarf hamster (Phodopus campbelli) ethanol consumption, sensitivity, and hoard fermentation. Behav. Proc. 115:19-24
  • Stevenson, T.J., Duddleston, K.N. & Buck, C.L. (2014). Effects of season and host physiological state on the diversity, activity and density of the arctic ground squirrel cecal microbiota. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 80(18), pp. 5611-5622. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01537-14.
  • Carey, H.V. & Duddleston, K.N. (2014). Animal-microbial symbioses in changing environments. Journal of Thermal Biology, 44, pp. 78-84. doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2014.02.015
  • Stevenson, T.J., Buck, C.L. & Duddleston, K.N. (2014). Temporal dynamics of the cecal gut microbiota of juvenile arctic ground squirrels: a strong litter effect across the first active season. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 80(14), pp. 4260-4268. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00737-14

Career History/Work Experience

Affiliations/Honors/Awards
  • ENRI Faculty Fellow
  • Alaska INBRE Faculty Affiliate 
  • Biology Scholar-in-Residence. Biology Scholars Transitions Residency: From Science Education Research to Publication.
  • American Society for Microbiology Scholar-in-Residence. Institute on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
  • UAA Faculty Writing Fellow. UAA Writing Across the Curriculum Initiative.
  • Affiliate Faculty, Dept of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks
  • Distinguished Service to the University Award
  • Faculty Exemplar Award for Undergraduate Research Mentorship
Biological Sciences