Bruce W. Fouke is a professor in the Departments of Geology and Microbiology, and the Biocomplexity Theme in the Institute for Genomic Biology, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He also serves as Director of the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center. Professor Fouke specializes in integrated geological and biological studies of: (1) the rate and mechanism of evolution of Bacteria and Archaea across steep environmental gradients; (2) the control of sea surface temperature on coral reef ecosystems in the Caribbean and the global emergence of infectious marine diseases; (3) the response of heat-loving (thermophilic) bacteria in Yellowstone and Turkey to changes in hot-spring water flow rate, chemistry and temperature; (4) microbially enhanced hydrocarbon recovery in deep subsurface oil and gas rock reservoirs of Canada, Alaska and Ireland; and (5) the timing and cause of the last flow of water in the aqueducts of ancient Rome and Pompeii.

Professor Fouke received the 2013 UIUC Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the 2013 UIUC Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and the 2010 King Broadrick-Allen Award for Excellence in Honors Teaching. Professor Fouke was named a Research Fellow at the Samuel von Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies at Lund University in Sweden, and the UIUC Center for Advanced Study. Professor Fouke serves on science panels at the National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Energy. He has been interviewed several times on National Public Radio and had his work featured in National Geographic Magazine, AAAS ScienceNow, the New York Times and the Washington Post.