Johannes Cairns
Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology (TCSMT) johannes.cairns@utu.fi |
ecology & evolution, resistance & resilience, bioinformatics, microbial model systems
I am a Collegium Researcher (Title of Docent in Evolutionary Genetics and Bioinformatics, 2023) at the University of Turku, where I lead the Microbial Evolutionary Genetics Lab (utu.fi/meg/). My research focuses on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of microbial communities, antibiotic resistance, and resilience, combining experimental evolution, molecular microbiology, and bioinformatics. I received my PhD in Microbiology from the University of Helsinki in 2018 and have since worked in Finland and the UK. I have authored more than 25 peer-reviewed articles and actively contribute to scientific collaboration, teaching, and science communication. In addition to the University of Turku, I am affiliated with the Department of Computer Science and Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki, and the Finnish Multidisciplinary Center of Excellence in Antimicrobial Resistance Research (FIMAR). Besides my science training, I also have academic training (PhD) and publications in environmental humanities, and am a founding and active member in One Health Finland (est. 2016), reflecting my broad interest in systemic approaches to global health and environmental challenges.
I study the eco-evolutionary dynamics of microbial communities, with a particular focus on how they adapt to environmental disturbances and antibiotic stress. By combining experimental evolution, genetic engineering, and bioinformatics, I aim to uncover the mechanisms that shape microbial resistance, resilience, and community interactions.
I have taught at bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels, with experience ranging from lectures and seminars to workshops and curriculum development. My teaching has focused on microbiology, experimental evolution, molecular genetics, and bioinformatics, including international training initiatives. I have also co-designed course material and supervised students across degree levels.
- Jørn Borup: Decolonising the Study of Religion (2025)
- Temenos
- Pre-exposure of abundant species to disturbance improves resilience in microbial metacommunities (2025)
- Nature Ecology and Evolution
- Pre-exposure to disturbance enhances species resilience and protects from change (2025)
- Nature Ecology and Evolution
- How Western Buddhist climate activists negotiate climate emotions (2024)
- Frontiers in Psychology
- How Western Buddhists Combine Buddhism and Climate Activism (2024)
- Contemporary Buddhism
- Quantifying massively parallel microbial growth with spatially mediated interactions (2024)
- PLoS Computational Biology
- Localized coevolution between microbial predator and prey alters community-wide gene expression and ecosystem function (2023)
- ISME Journal
- Microbiological and Physicochemical Quality of Groundwater and Risk Factors for Its Pollution in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (2023)
- Water
- Towards evolutionary predictions: Current promises and challenges (2023)
- Evolutionary Applications
- Understanding and applying biological resilience, from genes to ecosystems (2023)
- NPJ Biodiversity
- Understanding cellular growth strategies via optimal control (2023)
- Journal of the Royal Society Interface
- Biological units of antimicrobial resistance and strategies for their containment in animal production (2022)
- FEMS Microbiology Ecology
- Buddhalaisuus ja nykyinen ympäristökriisi: käytännön ympäristösuhteen historiallinen kehitys ja ympäristötoiminnan vaikuttavuus (2022) Cairns Johannes
- Effect of mutation supply on population dynamics and trait evolution in an experimental microbial community (2022)
- Ecology Letters
- Effects of phenotypic variation on consumer coexistence and prey community structure (2022)
- Ecology Letters
- Strong selective environments determine evolutionary outcome in time-dependent fitness seascapes (2022)
- Evolution letters
- Drug-induced resistance evolution necessitates less aggressive treatment (2021)
- PLoS Computational Biology
- Antibioottiresistenssi haastaa monialaiseen yhteistyöhön (2020)
- Lääkärilehti
- Evolution in interacting species alters predator life-history traits, behaviour and morphology in experimental microbial communities (2020)
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Mikrobit mediassa (2020)
- Inocula : mikrobiologikillan julkaisu