Gabriel Birzu

Assistant Professor

PhD Boston University (2019) gbirzu@ufl.edu Office: 2326 NPB 352.392.6976 Research Group: Biological Physics

Research Focus

My research aims to develop quantitative models of microbial ecology and evolution. I use a combination of theory, computation, and data analysis and often make use of tools and ideas from statistical physics. Many of the questions I am interested in are motivated by empirical studies of diversity in natural microbial communities—an area I am also actively working on. In recent years, many studies have shown that what was traditionally called a bacterial species is often a large collection of different strains that can be as diverged from each other as humans are from mice. These observations raise several questions. How does this fine-scale diversity evolve and what can we learn from it about microbial evolution? What are the consequences of fine-scale diversity for the ecological dynamics of microbial communities and their response to perturbations? What role do spatial processes play in generating and maintaining this diversity? I am currently pursuing projects addressing different aspects of these questions.

Selected publications

Hybridization breaks species barriers in long-term coevolution of a cyanobacterial population, G. Birzu, H.S. Muralidharan, D. Goudeau, R.R. Malmstrom, D.S. Fisher, D. Bhaya, bioRxiv:2023.06.06.543983 Genealogical structure changes as range expansions transition from pushed to pulled, G. Birzu, O. Hallatschek, K.S. Korolev, PNAS 118 (34), e2026746118 (2021) Fluctuations uncover a distinct class of traveling waves, G. Birzu, O. Hallatschek, K.S. Korolev, PNAS 115 (16), E3645-E3654 (2018)