Rosa McGuire

All Publications

• Microbial ecology for all: A vision of accessibility, unity, and responsibility. Ecology Sorouri, B., Bernardin, J., Favier, A. I., Garces, K. R., McMullen, J. G., McGuire, R. M. 2026; 107 (3): e70342

  Abstract

  Microorganisms are ubiquitous in nature, representing a significant portion of global biodiversity and playing vital roles in ecosystem functions, biogeochemical cycles, and organismal health. The growing recognition of microbial importance and their potential to address ecological and global challenges has inspired a renewed interest and innovation in microbial ecology. This field has benefited immensely from sequencing technologies that allow scientists to explore diversity at scales previously unimaginable. While the rapid growth of the field has offered significant positive advancements and foreshadows promising potential, there are aspects that need careful consideration. New technology has led to exponential growth in available microbial data, yet not everyone has easy access to sequencing technology, data mining and analysis tools, or the time to acquire new skills. Thus, we are at a crossroads in ensuring that these resources are accessible for all, and that traditional methods of microbiology are still appreciated as tools to progress the field in meaningful ways. As early-career researchers, we want to raise these points as principles for shaping the future of microbial ecology. Here, we outline a vision for a more accessible, united, and responsible microbial ecology field, one with applications equipped to address the needs of both society and the environment. To democratize the field, we advocate to destigmatize microbes and increase awareness of their beneficial roles by integrating microbes into early education. We believe unity and collaboration among microbial ecologists, as well as with professionals and community members in other STEM fields, are essential for advancing the field. Data should be accessible and standardized for collaboration, and greater integration across disciplines is essential to address future ecological challenges effectively and innovatively. It is our responsibility to ensure that we are asking relevant research questions with the potential to engage with socio-environmental issues and prioritize sustainable practices. As a collective field, our research should strive to not only expand scientific knowledge but also support community resilience and policy-making for a sustainable future. Together, this vision will promote a more equitable, diverse, and collaborative future for microbial ecology; and has applications for the broader ecology field.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/ecy.70342

  View details for PubMedID 41856914

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC13002350

• Genetic Variation for Thermal Adaptation in a Cosmopolitan Stored Product Pest. Ecology letters McGuire, R. M., Amarasekare, P. 2025; 28 (11): e70268

  Abstract

  Ectotherms' ability to adapt to climate warming depends on the availability of genetic variation. This is particularly important for insect pests because adaptation to warming could lead to greater crop damage and food shortages. We quantified genetic variation in the thermal reaction norms of life history traits in the bean beetle Callosobruchus maculatus, a stored product pest with a cosmopolitan distribution. We used these data to measure genetic variation in fitness, as quantified by the temperature response of the intrinsic growth rate. We find that the maturation rate, a trait subject to strong biochemical control, exhibits the least amount of genetic variation, while the birth rate, subject to regulatory feedback processes, exhibits the greatest amount. As a result, genetic variation in fitness is constrained by genetic variability in the thermal reaction norm for maturation, suggesting that maturation may be the key limiting factor in ectotherms' adaptation to climate warming.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/ele.70268

  View details for PubMedID 41296290

• Protect US racial affinity groups. Science (New York, N.Y.) Chaudhary, V. B., Kim, S., Medina, M., Srivastava, D. S., Traylor-Knowles, N., Brito-Millan, M., Camargo-Cely, A., Chatterjee, S., Chen, N., Chen, Y. H., Gotanda, K. M., Halsey, S. J., Jack, C. N., McGuire, R. M., Miller, C. M., Moore, A. C., Noh, S., Ong, T. W., Peralta, A. L., Puitiza, A., Ramirez, L. N., Romero-Olivares, A. L., Pulido-Barriga, M. F., Sanchez, K. A., Sit, C. Y., Su, C., Vazquez-Cardona, J., Venkataraman, Y. R., Werner, C. M., Khadempour, L. 2025; 387 (6737): 937

  View details for DOI 10.1126/science.adq4733

  View details for PubMedID 40014725

• Increase in heat tolerance following a period of heat stress in a naturally occurring insect species JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY Ardelan, A., Tsai, A., Will, S., Mcguire, R., Amarasekare, P. 2023: 2039-2051

  Abstract

  Climate warming is the defining environmental crisis of the 21st century. Elucidating whether organisms can adapt to rapidly changing thermal environments is therefore a crucial research priority. We investigated warming effects on a native Hemipteran insect (Murgantia histrionica) that feeds on an endemic plant species (Isomeris arborea) of the California coastal sage scrub. Experiments conducted in 2009 quantified the temperature responses of juvenile maturation rates and stage-specific and cumulative survivorship. The intervening decade has seen some of the hottest years ever recorded, with increasing mean temperatures accompanied by an increase in the frequency of hot extremes. Experiments repeated in 2021 show a striking change in the bugs' temperature responses. In 2009, no eggs developed past the second nymphal stage at 33°C. In 2021, eggs developed into reproductive adults at 33°C. Upper thermal limits for maturation and survivorship have increased, along with a decrease in mortality risk with increasing age and temperature, and a decrease in the temperature sensitivity of mortality with increasing age. While we cannot exclude the possibility that other environmental factors occurring in concert could have affected our findings, the fact that all observed trait changes are in the direction of greater heat tolerance suggests that consistent exposure to extreme heat stress may at least be partially responsible for these changes. Harlequin bugs belong to the suborder Heteroptera, which contains a number of economically important pests, biological control agents and disease carriers. Their differential success in withstanding warming compared to beneficial holometabolous insects such as pollinators may exacerbate the decline of beneficial insects due to other causes (e.g. pollution and pesticides) with potentially serious consequences on both biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/1365-2656.13995

  View details for Web of Science ID 001061415300001

  View details for PubMedID 37667662

• EcoEvoApps: Interactive apps for theoretical models in ecology and evolutionary biology ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION McGuire, R. M., Hayashi, K. T., Yan, X., Carita Vaz, M., Cinoglu, D., Cowen, M. C., Martinez-Blancas, A., Sullivan, L. L., Vazquez-Morales, S., Kandlikar, G. S. 2022; 12 (12): e9556

  Abstract

  The integration of theory and data drives progress in science, but a persistent barrier to such integration in ecology and evolutionary biology is that theory is often developed and expressed in the form of mathematical models that can feel daunting and inaccessible for students and empiricists with variable quantitative training and attitudes towards math. A promising way to make mathematical models more approachable is to embed them into interactive tools with which one can visually evaluate model structures and directly explore model outcomes through simulation. To promote such interactive learning of quantitative models, we developed EcoEvoApps, a collection of free, open-source, and multilingual R/Shiny apps that include model overviews, interactive model simulations, and code to implement these models directly in R. The package currently focuses on canonical models of population dynamics, species interactions, and landscape ecology. These apps help illustrate fundamental results from theoretical ecology and can serve as valuable teaching tools in classroom settings. We present data from student surveys which show that students rate these apps as useful learning tools, and that using interactive apps leads to substantial gains in students' interest and confidence in working with mathematical models. This points to the potential for interactive activities to make theoretical models more accessible to a wider audience, and thus facilitate the feedback between theory and data across ecology and evolutionary biology.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/ece3.9556

  View details for Web of Science ID 000905466000001

  View details for PubMedID 36479028

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9719042