These are a few of my favorite things...
Microbial Successional Dynamics at a Receding Glacier Forefront - As glaciers melt, virgin substrates with few organic legacies are exposed and available for primary colonization of plants, animals (Macro and Micro), and most importantly, microbes! Recent work suggests that the rules and patterns controlling microbial assembly differ from established macroecological expectations. My lab investigates the controls of microbial assembly and function in these primary successional forefronts.
Nival Microbiology - How can life thrive in snow? What gives certain microbes the ability to establish, live, and metabolize in snow? How do these microbes interact with each other? Are microbes in snow spatial structured across a local landscape level? These questions keep me awake at night. If these questions keep you awake as well, let me know!
Nival Microbiology - How can life thrive in snow? What gives certain microbes the ability to establish, live, and metabolize in snow? How do these microbes interact with each other? Are microbes in snow spatial structured across a local landscape level? These questions keep me awake at night. If these questions keep you awake as well, let me know!
Snow Algae and associated Microbes [And you may ask yourself, well - How did I get here?] - Snow Algae are a group of several species that can form large and visually stunning algal blooms in late season snow packs. There are many open questions about how these algae survive, persist, and establish new colonies. Also unresolved, the nature of algae-microbial interactions and community functionality. My lab investigates these interactions, function, and dispersal capability of the algae. |
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Impacts of Urbanization on Microbial Communities - With mass human exoduses from rural land into cities corresponding with increases in heavy metals concentrations, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and increase in temperatures with reduced diurnal temperatures oscillations (urban heat island effect), it is an open question how this urbanization impacts microbial communities.
Spatial Ecology of Plant Endophytes - What are the spatial and landscape drivers of plant endophytes? Are local environmental and edaphic conditions more influential than host preferences and genetic control?
Spatial Ecology of Plant Endophytes - What are the spatial and landscape drivers of plant endophytes? Are local environmental and edaphic conditions more influential than host preferences and genetic control?