Welcome to the Laboratory for Microbial and Environmental Genomics (micro-omics) where I and my students use innovative tools to study the ecology and epidemiology of marine microorganisms. We are interested in how ecosystem change (e.g., pollution, eutrophication, habitat loss, and climate change) impacts microbial populations, which act as the environment's first responders. For instance, we are characterizing the diversity of microorganisms that colonize plastic debris in marine environments. We also seek to understand the ecology and virulence of pathogenic marine bacteria. For instance, we are identifying genes responsible for virulence in the 'flesh-eating' bacterium V. vulnificus, and we are exploring how mutations can cause a loss of virulence in the pandemic bacterium V. parahaemolyticus.

Interests

Microbial Ecology, Molecular Biology, Population Genetics, Evolution, Genomics, Metagenomics, connections between oceans and human health