Education
Ph.D., Duke University, 2016
B.A., Carleton College, 2007
Areas of Expertise
- Aquatic ecology/Watershed ecology
- Ecosystem ecology/Biogeochemistry
Research Interests
Microbial ecology
Selected Publications
Johnson, W.M., H. Alexander, R.L. Bier, D.R. Miller, M.E. Muscarella, K.J. Pitz, and H. Smith. 2020. Auxotrophic interactions: A stabilizing attribute of aquatic microbial communities? FEMS Microbiology Ecology, fiaa115.
Sienkiewicz, N., R.L. Bier, J. Wang, L. Zgleszewski, A. Lutgen, G. Jiang, K. Mattern, S. Inamdar, and J. Kan. 2020. Bacterial communities and nitrogen transformation genes in streambank legacy sediments and implications for biogeochemical processing. Biogeochemistry 148: 271-290.
Bier, R.L., J. Wernegreen, R. Vilgalys, J.C. Ellis, and E.S. Bernhardt. 2019. Subsidized or stressed? Shifts in freshwater benthic microbial metagenomics along a gradient of alkaline coal mine drainage. Limnology & Oceanography 65: S277-S292. Special issue: Linking metagenomics to aquatic microbial ecology/biogeochemical cycles.
Simonin, M., K.A. Voss, B.A. Hassett, J.D. Rocca, S. Wang, R.L. Bier, C.R. Violin, J.P. Wright, E.S. Bernhardt. 2019. In search of microbial indicator taxa: shifts in stream bacterial communities along an urbanization gradient. Environmental Microbiology 21: 3653-3668.
Hall E.K., E.S. Bernhardt, R.L. Bier, M.A. Bradford, C.M. Boot, J.B. Cotner, P.A. del Giorgio, S.E. Evans, E.B. Graham, S.E. Jones, J.T. Lennon, K. Locey, D.R. Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, J.D. Rocca, J.P. Schimel, M.P. Waldrop, M.D. Wallenstein. 2018. Understanding how microbiomes influence the systems they inhabit. Nature Microbiology 3: 977-982.
Bier, R.L., E.S. Bernhardt, C.M. Boot, E.B. Graham, E.K. Hall, J.T. Lennon, D.R. Nemergut, B.B. Osborne, C. Ruiz-González, J.P. Schimel, M.P. Waldrop, M.D. Wallenstein. 2015. Linking microbial community structure and microbial processes: an empirical and conceptual overview. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 91: 1-11.
Bier, R.L., K.A. Voss, and E.S. Bernhardt. 2015. Bacteria community responses to a gradient of alkaline mountaintop mine drainage in Central Appalachian streams. The ISME Journal 9: 1378-1390.
Lindberg, T.T., E.S. Bernhardt, R. Bier, A.M. Helton, R.B. Merola, A. Vengosh, and R.T. Di Giulio. 2011. Cumulative impacts of mountaintop mining on an Appalachian watershed. PNAS 108: 20929-20934.
