Angela Douglas has an abiding interest in the relationship between animals and beneficial microorganisms. The primary focus of her research has been associations between insects and bacteria. She has demonstrated how nutrients released from bacteria enable various insects to thrive on inadequate diets, and she has identified how these interactions can be targeted for improved insect pest control. In addition to primary research publications and reviews, Angela has written several books, including Insect Associations with Beneficial Microbes (2022), Fundamentals of Microbiome Science (2018) and The Symbiotic Habit (2010), published by Princeton University Press.
Angela received a BA degree in zoology at the University of Oxford (1978), and PhD from the University of Aberdeen (1981). Following several years of postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford and University of East Anglia, she was awarded a ten-year Royal Society Research Fellowship, held at the John Innes Institute, University of Oxford and University of York (1985-1996). From 1996-2008, Angela held a faculty position at the University of York, proceeding from the position of Senior Lecturer, through Reader, to a Personal Chair; including receipt of a three-year Research Fellowship from The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (2005-2008). In 2008, Angela took up the position of Daljit S. and Elaine Sarkaria Professor of Insect Physiology and Toxicology. She retired from this position in 2021, to focus on writing.
