Our research is grounded in ecological theory and microbiology, with applications that promote the health of both environments and microbial-host systems. We rely heavily on bioinformatics and molecular techniques to elucidate how microbial populations contribute to the well-being of their hosts.

Our work centers around three major themes:

1. Computational genomics - using bioinformatic approaches to study microbial populations and their genomes following ecological disturbances
2. Targeted culturing - isolating microbial populations of interest for functional characterization
3. Ecological mechanisms - determining the drivers of microbial succession and the interplay between microbiomes and their hosts or environment

​Additionally, our work currently incorporates the following systems:

1. Andropogon gerardii
2. Arabidopsis thaliana
3. Plant protoplasts
4. HeLa cervical cancer cells
5. Caco-2 cells - colorectal adenocarcinoma or colon tumor cells
6. Colonoids - colon organoids derived from a healthy patient
7. Various mouse models
8. Single-cell isolates from both the human gut and plant rhizosphere
   
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In collaboration with colleagues across disciplines, we synthesize multi-omic data with environmental and biochemical insights to understand how microbial populations are critical to the health of both environmental and host systems — especially in the context of perturbation and recovery.