Dana E. Hunt | Scholars@Duke

Dana E. Hunt
Associate Professor of Microbial Ecology

My research focus is on understanding the ecology of microbes through examination of their genes and lifestyles. Bacteria are the most diverse organisms on earth and play a pivotal role in planetary cycling of nutrients and energy. Yet, we have a poor understanding of the factors that drive their diversity and dynamics in the environment. The lab's emphasis is on studying bacterial interactions with the environment at the appropriate temporal and spatial scale including the effect of temperature changes on bacterial populations and bacterial interactions with other organisms. Another area of active research is the response and adaptation of bacteria to emerging pollutants such as antibiotics and nanoparticles.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Associate Professor of Microbial Ecology, Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment 2019

Contact Information

135 Duke Marine Lab Rd, Beaufort, NC 28516
dana.hunt@duke.edu (252) 504-7542
Lab Webpage

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2008
Duke Appointment History
- Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering 2015 - 2020
- Assistant Professor of Microbial Ecology, Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment 2010 - 2019
- Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology, Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2014 - 2018
Recognition
In the News
- DEC 30, 2013
  
  Local Factors Cause Dramatic Spikes In Coastal Ocean Acidity
Expertise
Subject Headings
Global Scholarship
- Research
  - United States of America (Country)
Research
Selected Grants
- Duke University Program in Environmental Health awarded by National Institutes of Health 2013 - 2024
- NSF2026: EAGER Identifying microbes' population-level environmental responses using Bayesian modeling awarded by National Science Foundation 2020 - 2022
- CoPe: RCN: Building a Collaboratory for Coastal Adaptation over Space and Time (C-CoAST) awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill 2020 - 2022
- Collaborative Research: Ocean Acidification: microbes as sentinels of adaptive responses to multiple stressors awarded by National Science Foundation 2015 - 2019
- Ecology at the microbial scale: the importance of microscale interactions between heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton in marine environments awarded by Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation 2013 - 2019
- Multi-functional Plasmonics Nanoprobes for Cellular Sensing and Imaging awarded by Department of Energy 2015 - 2019
- OCE-RIG: Biological activity on particulate organic material in the coastal ocean awarded by National Science Foundation 2013 - 2016
- MRI-R-2: Acquisition of High-Speed Sorting Flow Cytometer for Multi-User Environmental Microbiology Research awarded by National Science Foundation 2010 - 2012
External Relationships
- China National Science Foundation
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Wang, Zhao, Despina Tsementzi, Tiffany C. Williams, Doris L. Juarez, Sara K. Blinebry, Nathan S. Garcia, Brooke K. Sienkiewicz, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Zackary I. Johnson, and Dana E. Hunt. “Environmental stability impacts the differential sensitivity of marine microbiomes to increases in temperature and acidity.” The Isme Journal, September 4, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-020-00748-2.
    Full Text
  - Wang, Zhao, Doris L. Juarez, Jin-Fen Pan, Sara K. Blinebry, Jessica Gronniger, James S. Clark, Zackary I. Johnson, and Dana E. Hunt. “Microbial communities across nearshore to offshore coastal transects are primarily shaped by distance and temperature.” Environmental Microbiology 21, no. 10 (October 2019): 3862–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.14734.
    Full Text
  - Ward, Christopher S., Jin-Fen Pan, Benjamin P. Colman, Zhao Wang, Carley A. Gwin, Tiffany C. Williams, Abby Ardis, Claudia K. Gunsch, and Dana E. Hunt. “Conserved Microbial Toxicity Responses for Acute and Chronic Silver Nanoparticle Treatments in Wetland Mesocosms.” Environmental Science & Technology 53, no. 6 (March 2019): 3268–76. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b06654.
    Full Text
  - Duan, Yingbo, Ningdong Xie, Zhiquan Song, Christopher S. Ward, Cheuk-Man Yung, Dana E. Hunt, Zackary I. Johnson, and Guangyi Wang. “A High-Resolution Time Series Reveals Distinct Seasonal Patterns of Planktonic Fungi at a Temperate Coastal Ocean Site (Beaufort, North Carolina, USA).” Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84, no. 21 (November 2018). https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00967-18.
    Full Text
  - Zhang, Tingwan, Jin-Fen Pan, Dana E. Hunt, Min Chen, and Bo Wang. “Organic matter modifies biochemical but not most behavioral responses of the clam Ruditapes philippinarum to nanosilver exposure.” Marine Environmental Research 133 (February 2018): 105–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2017.10.016.
    Full Text
  - Ward, Christopher S., Cheuk-Man Yung, Katherine M. Davis, Sara K. Blinebry, Tiffany C. Williams, Zackary I. Johnson, and Dana E. Hunt. “Annual community patterns are driven by seasonal switching between closely related marine bacteria.” The Isme Journal 11, no. 6 (June 2017): 1412–22. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.4.
    Full Text
  - Garcia, Nathan S., Cheuk-Man Yung, Katherine M. Davis, Tatiana Rynearson, and Dana E. Hunt. “Draft Genome Sequences of Three Bacterial Isolates from Cultures of the Marine Diatom Thalassiosira rotula.” Genome Announcements 5, no. 18 (May 4, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1128/genomea.00316-17.
    Full Text
  - McMurray, S. E., Z. I. Johnson, D. E. Hunt, J. R. Pawlik, and C. M. Finelli. “Selective feeding by the giant barrel sponge enhances foraging efficiency.” Limnology and Oceanography 61, no. 4 (July 1, 2016): 1271–86. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10287.
    Full Text
  - Yung, Cheuk-Man, Christopher S. Ward, Katherine M. Davis, Zackary I. Johnson, and Dana E. Hunt. “Insensitivity of Diverse and Temporally Variable Particle-Associated Microbial Communities to Bulk Seawater Environmental Parameters.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology 82, no. 11 (June 2016): 3431–37. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00395-16.
    Full Text
  - Yung, Cheuk-Man, Marissa K. Vereen, Amy Herbert, Katherine M. Davis, Jiayu Yang, Agata Kantorowska, Christopher S. Ward, Jennifer J. Wernegreen, Zackary I. Johnson, and Dana E. Hunt. “Thermally adaptive tradeoffs in closely related marine bacterial strains.” Environ Microbiol 17, no. 7 (July 2015): 2421–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.12714.
    Full Text Link to Item
  - Hunt, Dana E., and Christopher S. Ward. “A network-based approach to disturbance transmission through microbial interactions.” Frontiers in Microbiology 6 (January 2015): 1182. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01182.
    Full Text
  - Chae, So-Ryong, Dana E. Hunt, Kaoru Ikuma, Sungwoo Yang, Jinhyun Cho, Claudia K. Gunsch, Jie Liu, and Mark R. Wiesner. “Aging of fullerene C₆₀ nanoparticle suspensions in the presence of microbes.” Water Research 65 (November 2014): 282–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2014.07.038.
    Full Text
  - Kirchberger, Paul C., Maryann Turnsek, Dana E. Hunt, Bradd J. Haley, Rita R. Colwell, Martin F. Polz, Cheryl L. Tarr, and Yan Boucher. “Vibrio metoecus sp. nov., a close relative of Vibrio cholerae isolated from coastal brackish ponds and clinical specimens.” International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 64, no. Pt 9 (September 2014): 3208–14. https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.060145-0.
    Full Text
  - Colman, Benjamin P., Benjamin Espinasse, Curtis J. Richardson, Cole W. Matson, Gregory V. Lowry, Dana E. Hunt, Mark R. Wiesner, and Emily S. Bernhardt. “Emerging contaminant or an old toxin in disguise? Silver nanoparticle impacts on ecosystems.” Environmental Science & Technology 48, no. 9 (May 2014): 5229–36. https://doi.org/10.1021/es405454v.
    Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Hunt, Dana E., Yajuan Lin, Matthew J. Church, David M. Karl, Susannah G. Tringe, Lisa K. Izzo, and Zackary I. Johnson. “Relationship between abundance and specific activity of bacterioplankton in open ocean surface waters.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology 79, no. 1 (January 2013): 177–84. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02155-12.
    Full Text
  - Johnson, Zackary I., Benjamin J. Wheeler, Sara K. Blinebry, Christina M. Carlson, Christopher S. Ward, and Dana E. Hunt. “Dramatic variability of the carbonate system at a temperate coastal ocean site (Beaufort, North Carolina, USA) is regulated by physical and biogeochemical processes on multiple timescales.” Plos One 8, no. 12 (January 2013): e85117. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085117.
    Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Boucher, Yan, Otto X. Cordero, Alison Takemura, Dana E. Hunt, Klaus Schliep, Eric Bapteste, Philippe Lopez, Cheryl L. Tarr, and Martin F. Polz. “Local mobile gene pools rapidly cross species boundaries to create endemicity within global Vibrio cholerae populations.” Mbio 2, no. 2 (January 2011). https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00335-10.
    Full Text
  - Hunt, Dana E., Lawrence A. David, Dirk Gevers, Sarah P. Preheim, Eric J. Alm, and Martin F. Polz. “Resource partitioning and sympatric differentiation among closely related bacterioplankton.” Science 320, no. 5879 (May 23, 2008): 1081–85. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1157890.
    Full Text Link to Item
  - Stocker, Roman, Justin R. Seymour, Azadeh Samadani, Dana E. Hunt, and Martin F. Polz. “Rapid chemotactic response enables marine bacteria to exploit ephemeral microscale nutrient patches.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105, no. 11 (March 12, 2008): 4209–14. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0709765105.
    Full Text
  - Hunt, Dana E., Dirk Gevers, Nisha M. Vahora, and Martin F. Polz. “Conservation of the chitin utilization pathway in the Vibrionaceae.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74, no. 1 (January 2008): 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01412-07.
    Full Text
  - Polz, Martin F., Dana E. Hunt, Sarah P. Preheim, and Daniel M. Weinreich. “Patterns and mechanisms of genetic and phenotypic differentiation in marine microbes.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 361, no. 1475 (November 2006): 2009–21. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1928.
    Full Text
  - Hunt, Dana E., Vanja Klepac-Ceraj, Silvia G. Acinas, Clement Gautier, Stefan Bertilsson, and Martin F. Polz. “Evaluation of 23S rRNA PCR primers for use in phylogenetic studies of bacterial diversity.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology 72, no. 3 (March 2006): 2221–25. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.72.3.2221-2225.2006.
    Full Text
  - Thompson, Janelle R., Sarah Pacocha, Chanathip Pharino, Vanja Klepac-Ceraj, Dana E. Hunt, Jennifer Benoit, Ramahi Sarma-Rupavtarm, Daniel L. Distel, and Martin F. Polz. “Genotypic diversity within a natural coastal bacterioplankton population.” Science (New York, N.Y.) 307, no. 5713 (February 2005): 1311–13. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1106028.
    Full Text
  - Acinas, Silvia G., Vanja Klepac-Ceraj, Dana E. Hunt, Chanathip Pharino, Ivica Ceraj, Daniel L. Distel, and Martin F. Polz. “Fine-scale phylogenetic architecture of a complex bacterial community.” Nature 430, no. 6999 (July 2004): 551–54. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02649.
    Full Text
  - Polz, Martin F., Stefan Bertilsson, Silvia G. Acinas, and Dana Hunt. “A(r)Ray of hope in analysis of the function and diversity of microbial communities.” The Biological Bulletin 204, no. 2 (April 2003): 196–99. https://doi.org/10.2307/1543558.
    Full Text
  - Polz, M. F., S. Bertilson, S. G. Acinas, and D. Hunt. “A(r)ray of hope in diversity analysis of microbial function and communities.” Biological Bulletin 204, no. 2 (2003): 196–99.
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Outreach & Engaged Scholarship
- Bass Connections Team Leader. Ecological and Social Time Scales in Hurricane Response and Recovery. 2019 2019

Some information on this profile has been compiled automatically from Duke databases and external sources. (Our About page explains how this works.) If you see a problem with the information, please write to Scholars@Duke and let us know. We will reply promptly.

Education, Training, & Certifications

Duke Appointment History

In the News

Subject Headings

Global Scholarship

Research

Selected Grants

External Relationships

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Recent Courses

Outreach & Engaged Scholarship