Ema Chao
Research Associate (part-time)
Autobiography
I obtained my B.Sc. from the Department of Botany at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada in 1982 followed by an M.Sc. in mycology from the Department of Biology at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada in 1985. I then spent four years in a medical lab in the Department of Infectious Diseases in the Faculty of Medicine, UBC. Wanting to explore the still rather new area of molecular biology, I joined T. Cavalier-Smith in 1989 at the start of his appointment at UBC, Botany, where together we applied molecular biology to several protist groups and especially the now very significant group Cercozoa. On moving to Oxford University in1999, my time is spent mostly between examining the feasibility of future research projects and the general maintenance of the lab environment.
Research Activities
When time allows, I have a keen interest in isolating relevant protists from the wild. These often serve as the starting material for various research projects that examine the key phylogenetic relationships of the eukaryotic tree.
Selected Recent Papers
- Cavalier-Smith, T. & Chao, E. E-Y. 2006. Phylogeny and megasystematics of phagotrophic heterokonts (Kingdom Chromista). Journal of Molecular Evolution 62:388-420.
- Cavalier-Smith, T., Chao, E. E-Y. & Oates, B. 2004. Molecular phylogeny of Amoebozoa and the evolutionary significance of the unikont Phalansterium. European Journal of Protistology 40:21-48.
- Von Der Heyden, S., Chao, E. E-Y. & Cavalier-Smith, T. 2004. Ribosomal RNA phylogeny of bodonid and diplonemid flagellates and the evolution of Euglenozoa. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 51:402-416.
- Cavalier-Smith, T. & Chao, E. E-Y. 2003. Phylogeny and classification of Phylum Cercozoa (Protozoa). Protist 154:341-358.
- Cavalier-Smith, T. & Chao, E. E-Y. 2003. Phylogeny of Choanozoa, Apusozoa, and other Protozoa and early eukaryote megaevolution. Journal of Molecular Evolution 56:540-563.
- Cavalier-Smith, T. & Chao, E. E-Y. 2003. Molecular phylogeny of centrohelid Heliozoa, a novel lineage of bikont eukaryotes that arose by ciliary loss. Journal of Moclecular Evolution 56:387-396.