My name is Dr. Anna Forsman and I am the bird-chasing, microbe-wrangling PI of the Wild Symbioses Lab at Colby College. I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and I currently teach Immunology and Ornithology. My research questions focus on understanding development and function of the vertebrate immune system in the context of life history theory. I am particularly interested in how host-associated microbial communities (e.g., gut microbiome) interact with immune system defenses. As a newer faculty member at Colby, I am busy working with my students to establish local field sites, which includes setting up tree swallow nest boxes on Allen Island (Spring 2024) and main campus (Spring 2025).
Symbiosis ~ συμβίωσις ~ “Living together”
Merriam-Webster defines symbiosis as “the living together in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms”. Although we often synonymize mutualism and symbiosis, the former refers to only one category of the latter.
Symbioses also include commensal and parasitic relationships. Host-associated microbial communities (e.g., gut microbiome) are ubiquitous yet represent a unique type of symbiosis encompassing all possible categories thereof. The focus of the Wild Symbioses Lab is to understand the complex interactions that arise between vertebrate organisms and the myriad of organisms they associate with on a regular basis, including microbiota, parasites, and disease organisms.
