People

Mark Buckner

PhD Student

My research with the Danforth Lab is broadly focused on microbial ecology and host-microbe interactions in solitary bees. I am interested in how interspecific interactions and the microbial environment affect microbial diversity, host health, and conservation.

I earned a BS in Organismal Biology from the University of Montana, where I researched cicada endosymbiont genomics. Before starting at Cornell, I worked in breast cancer research at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus. I later transitioned to county public health in Montana, where I worked in food safety and consumer protection and managed the county’s potable water microbiology lab as an Environmental Health Specialist. Even after departing local government, I remain interested in the overlap of science and policy.