{"id":140,"date":"2014-05-31T18:11:55","date_gmt":"2014-05-31T16:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/demo.themegrill.com\/accelerate\/?page_id=140"},"modified":"2026-07-28T00:15:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T22:15:45","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Organizers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

3rd BALO Symposium 2026<\/strong><\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Lauren Speare, PhD<\/mark> <\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lspeare3@gatech.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Speare is an Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her lab investigates the social lives of marine bacteria, how they interact with their environment, and the consequences of the ecosystems they inhabit. Current projects in her lab focus on bacterial symbionts of marine environments, with an emphasis on microbial predation by the marine BALO, Halobacteriovorax<\/em>.
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Macey Coppinger, PhD<\/mark> <\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mcoppinger3@gatech.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Coppinger is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Speare Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology studying host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions through bacterial genetics and experimental evolution. She is currently exploring the genes and mechanisms involved in prey specificity and predation efficiency of marine predatory bacteria, aiming to develop molecular genetic tools for Halobacteriovorax.<\/em>
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Yewande Ajao, PhD<\/mark> <\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ajaoyewande@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Yewande Ajao is a microbial ecologist whose research focuses on the phenotypic diversity and ecological roles of predatory bacteria, particularly Bdellovibrio<\/em>. Her work has contributed to the identification and characterization of two novel Bdellovibrio<\/em>\u00a0species, advancing understanding of their diversity and prey interactions. She has expertise in microbial isolation, phenotypic characterization, and genome analysis. Dr. Ajao previously served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the United States Department of Agriculture\u2013Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in Athens, Georgia.
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

2nd BALO Symposium 2024<\/strong><\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

1st Bdellovibrio Symposium 2022 (60th Anniversary)<\/strong><\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"
Prof. Andrew Lovering
University of Birmingham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Prof. Laura Hobley
University of Nottingham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Dr. Simona Huwiler
University of Zurich
(now University of Bern)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3rd BALO Symposium 2026 Lauren Speare, PhD lspeare3@gatech.edu Dr. Speare is an Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her lab investigates the social lives of marine bacteria, how they interact with their environment, and the consequences of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-140","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nOrganizers - BALO Symposium 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Organizers - BALO Symposium 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"3rd BALO Symposium 2026 Lauren Speare, PhD lspeare3@gatech.edu Dr. Speare is an Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her lab investigates the social lives of marine bacteria, how they interact with their environment, and the consequences of the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BALO Symposium 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-27T22:15:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LSpeare_headshot_2022_cropped-982x1024.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/index.php\\\/about-me\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/index.php\\\/about-me\\\/\",\"name\":\"Organizers - BALO Symposium 2026\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/index.php\\\/about-me\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/index.php\\\/about-me\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/LSpeare_headshot_2022_cropped-982x1024.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-31T16:11:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-27T22:15:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/index.php\\\/about-me\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/index.php\\\/about-me\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/index.php\\\/about-me\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/LSpeare_headshot_2022_cropped-982x1024.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/LSpeare_headshot_2022_cropped-982x1024.jpeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/index.php\\\/about-me\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Organizers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/\",\"name\":\"BALO Symposium 2026\",\"description\":\"Septenber 29 & 30, online\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bdellovibrio.net\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Organizers - BALO Symposium 2026","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Organizers - BALO Symposium 2026","og_description":"3rd BALO Symposium 2026 Lauren Speare, PhD lspeare3@gatech.edu Dr. Speare is an Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her lab investigates the social lives of marine bacteria, how they interact with their environment, and the consequences of the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/","og_site_name":"BALO Symposium 2026","article_modified_time":"2026-07-27T22:15:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LSpeare_headshot_2022_cropped-982x1024.jpeg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/","name":"Organizers - BALO Symposium 2026","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LSpeare_headshot_2022_cropped-982x1024.jpeg","datePublished":"2014-05-31T16:11:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-27T22:15:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LSpeare_headshot_2022_cropped-982x1024.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LSpeare_headshot_2022_cropped-982x1024.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/about-me\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Organizers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/","name":"BALO Symposium 2026","description":"Septenber 29 & 30, online","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":85,"href":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1092,"href":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/140\/revisions\/1092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bdellovibrio.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}