Elise Wilbourn

Biography

Elise’s current work focuses on the development of new strategies for algae crop protection, including working with external industry and academic partners to test newly developed products. Her research also includes the use of next-generation sequencing for community composition analysis of algal crops and for the identification and isolation of both novel pest species and beneficial microbiome members in production systems.
Her past work includes analysis of phytoplankton physicochemical properties as they relate to the generation of primary marine aerosols in remote settings, especially the study and quantification of ice-nucleating particles and cloud condensation nuclei.

Education

B.S., Environmental Science, Geology Concentration, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY, 2014

PhD, Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station TX, 2019

Research Interests

Algal biochemistry, Crop protection, Bioaerosols, Bioinformatics and multiomics

Professional Organizations and Leadership

• Algal Biomass Organization
• American Geophysical Union
• American Association of Aerosol Research

Awards

• Louis & Elizabeth Scherck Scholarship- 2015-2016, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019
• NSF S-STEM Scholar- Fall 2014 – Spring 2019
• Webber Scholarship- 2016-2017
• Sharp Graduate Scholarship- 2014

Publications

Wilbourn, E. K., Lane, P., Curtis, D. J., & Lane, T. (2023). Protection of commercially important phytoplankton from fungal infection using bacterial co-cultures.

Wilbourn, E. K., Lacher, L., Guerrero, C., Vepuri, H. S. K., Höhler, K., Nadolny, J., Pantoya, A. D., Möhler, O., & Hiranuma, N. (2024). Measurement report: A comparison of ground-level ice-nucleating-particle abundance and aerosol properties during autumn at contrasting marine and terrestrial locations. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 24(9), 5433-5456. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5433-2024

Wilbourn, E. K., Alrimaly, S., Williams, H., Hurst, J., McGovern, G. P., Anderson, T. A., & Hiranuma, N. (2023). Integrated Science Teaching in Atmospheric Ice Nucleation Research: Immersion Freezing Experiments. Journal of Chemical Education, 100(4), 1511-1522. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c01060

Wilbourn, E. K., Thornton, D. C. O., Ott, C., Graff, J., Quinn, P. K., Bates, T. S., Betha, R., Russell, L. M., Behrenfeld, M. J., & Brooks, S. D. (2020). Ice Nucleation by Marine Aerosols Over the North Atlantic Ocean in Late Spring. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125(4), e2019JD030913. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030913

Alsante, A. N., Thornton, D. C. O., Brooks, S. D., Mirrielees, J. A., Wilbourn, E. K., Matthews, B. H., Diaz, B., & Bidle, K. D. (2025). Effect of viral infection on the ice nucleation efficiency of marine coccolithophores. Aerosol Science and Technology, 59(2), 195-213. https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2024.2420675

Li, G., Wilbourn, E. K., Cheng, Z., Wieder, J., Fagerson, A., Henneberger, J., Motos, G., Traversi, R., Brooks, S. D., Mazzola, M., China, S., Nenes, A., Lohmann, U., Hiranuma, N., & Kanji, Z. A. (2023). Physicochemical characterization and source apportionment of Arctic ice-nucleating particles observed in Ny-Ålesund in autumn 2019. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23(18), 10489-10516. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10489-2023

Thornton, D. C. O., Brooks, S. D., Wilbourn, E. K., Mirrielees, J., Alsante, A. N., Gold-Bouchot, G., Whitesell, A., & McFadden, K. (2023). Production of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) by fast-growing phytoplankton. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23(19), 12707-12729. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12707-2023