Biography

Dr. Dave Westenberg is Curators Distinguished Teaching  Professor in the department of Biological Sciences at Missouri University of Science and Technology. His laboratory primarily focuses on the role of rhizosphere microorganisms on plant nutrition and bioremediation and the antimicrobial properties of biomaterials. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Public Health from Michigan State University and his PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He spent two years at the Institute for Microbiology in Göttingen as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Gerhardt Gottschalk and a six-month sabbatical in the Department of Cell Biology and Applied Botany in Marburg in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Mueller. He is active in microbiology education and is an alumnus of the ASM Scholars-in-Residence Program (Biology Scholars). He chaired the ASM Committee on K-12 Education and Outreach for seven years and was co-director of the Missouri S&T Science Education and Quantitative Literacy (SEQL) program for elementary and middle school science and math education. In addition to his research and teaching, he is co-advisor of the Missouri S&T IGEM, synthetic biology student design team, co-advisor for the Helix biological sciences student organization (and a student chapter of the American Society for Microbiology), and advisor of the Humans vs. Zombies student organization.

Research Interests

Plant-Microbe Interactions, Antibacterial Activities, Synthetic Biology, Microbiology Education

Education

• Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles
• B.S. in Microbiology and Public Health, Michigan State University