Contributors

	Alastair Grant is Director of the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation at the University of East Anglia, which brings together more than 20 faculty and 70 researchers working in all areas of ecology and evolutionary biology. He is a marine ecologist by background, with research interests that focus on ecotoxicology and mathematical modelling. Email address: A.Grant@uea.ac.uk> Website: http://www.uea.ac.uk/~e130/
	Brian McSpadden Gardener received his Ph.D. in Botany from Michigan State University in 1998. He began work in the field of biological control of plant pathogens as an ARS postdoctoral fellow under the guidance of Dr. David Weller. He joined the faculty at the Ohio State University in 2001 where he currently serves as an Assistant Professor. His research focuses on defining the diversity, population dynamics, and ecological functioning of microbial populations that colonize crop plants. Particular emphasis is given to studying Pseudomonas and Bacillus spp. with potential for development as biopesticides. Emaill: bbmg+@osu.edu
	María-Soledad Benítez is a graduate student in the Department of Plant Pathology at The Ohio State University. She is studying the relationships between suppressiveness and phlD producing Pseudomonas spp. in organic farming systems. She obtained her undergraduate degree of Biological Sciences at the Universidad Católica in Quito-Ecuador. Her interests are in microbial ecology, specifically in relation to changes in microbial population structure as it relates to the functioning of agricultural and natural ecosystems. Email: benitez.8@osu.edu
	Dan O. Chellemi is a research plant pathologist with USDA, ARS. He is located at the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce, Florida. Previously he was an Assistant and Associate Professor in Plant Pathology in the University of Florida, Plant Pathology Department from 1990 to 1997 where he was located at the North Florida Research & Education Center in Quincy, Florida. He received a B.S. from Plant Sciences at the University of Florida, an M.S. in Plant Pathology and the University of Hawaii-Manoa and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of California-Davis.
	Angela Sessitsch is a molecular microbial ecologist and currently heads the Dept. of Bioresources at the ARC Seibersdorf research GmbH in Austria. She received a M.Sc from the Technical University of Graz, Austria, in Technical Chemistry (Food and Biochemistry), a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands, and a "venia docendi" in Microbial Ecology from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna In Austria. She completed research stays at CAMBIA (Canberra, Australia), the University of Accra (Ghana), EMBRAPA (Seropedica, Brazil), and at CINVESTAV (Irapuato, Mexico). She worked for the FAO/IAEA on symbiotic nitrogen fixation and Rhizobium ecology, before she joined in 1998 the ARC Seibersdorf research GmbH. Her research interests include beneficial plant-microbe interactions, endophytic bacteria, diversity and function of soil and plant-associated bacteria, phytoremediation and the development of novel high through-put methods to identify environmental microbial communities and food-borne pathogens. Email: angela.sessitsch@arcs.ac.at
	Dr. Jay L. Garland is the Chief Scientist and Biological Programs Manager for Dynamac Corporation at the Kennedy Space Center. He oversees research associated with protection of the sensitive environment surrounding the space center and the potential use of biological systems comprised of plants and microorganisms to maintain human crews during extended space missions. Dr. Garland received a B.S. in Zoology from the Ohio State University in 1983, a M.S. in Biology from Virginia Tech in 1985, and a Ph.D in Environment Science from the University of Virginia in 1991. NASA recognized him for Creative Technical Innovation in 1988, 1999, 2003, and 2004. His work with graduate students has led to past or present adjunct faculty positions at the University of Florida, University of Tennessee, the University of South Florida, and the University of Delaware. He completed research fellowships in Japan (2005) and visiting professorships at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina (2001, 2004) and the University of Innsbruck in Austria (2002). He has authored over 50 scientific papers on various topics, including methods for microbial community analysis, the ecology of plant-associated microorganisms and the recycling of solid and liquid wastes in plant growth systems. Dr. Garland has presented over 20 invited lectures during the past 5 years at various scientific meetings and universities in the U.S. and abroad. His work is committed to the development of sustainable systems using sound ecological principles and innovative technology for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial applications.
	Regin Rønn is a Research Associate Professor at the Department of Terrestrial Ecology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken15, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark. He researches interactions between microfauna and microorganisms with the main focus on the effects of protozoan grazing on bacterial community structure in soil.