Scott R. Santos, Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, died April 9. He was 52. Dr. Santos was an accomplished researcher, faculty member and an administrator. He was most proud of helping the next generation of scientists to be successful. Those that knew Scott best, say his work ethic was unmatched and that his students adored him. A pioneer in his field, an exceptional scholar, a cherished colleague and mentor — Professor Santos' positive influence on the scientific community and on those fortunate enough to know him will be long-lasting and sorely missed.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to Scott’s family, his wife Vicky, his daughter River, and to his colleagues and friends.
An obituary and information about services can be found here.
More memories and sentiments can be viewed on the Lombardo Funeral Home tribute wall.
Microbial symbioses, microbial community structure and function, evolutionary biology, biodiversity and conservation, marine and freshwater ecology, bioinformatics.
Research in The Santos Lab utilizes a variety of molecular tools, computational approaches and field- and laboratory-based studies to examine the ecology, evolution, genetics, physiology, and symbiosis biology of a range of terrestrial and aquatic (both freshwater and marine) organisms, including host- and environmentally-associated microbiomes.
Microbiomes, representing the collective bacteria, archaea, protist, fungi and virus community living on or in individual organisms or in particular environments, are now recognized as having significant impacts on the development, health, and disease status of hosts or in ecosystem function. Since understanding phenomena like the mechanistic basis between individuals’ genotypes and phenotypes or nutrient cycling and energy flow through environments requires consideration at multiple levels of biological complexity, this should include interactions with, and the organization of, microbiomes.