Climate change is the largest challenge facing people today, and our lab mission is to understand the microbiology of climate change and apply this knowledge towards climate solutions including biofuels. Read more about our approach and lab values…
We work to understand how individual microbes function as part of communities, and how microbial functions scale to ecosystem functions. Our study systems mostly include soils and engineered systems We use molecular characterization and biotechnology (DNA, RNA, lipids and protein sequencing, genetic engineering), physical and physiological measurements (gas production, biomass measures, cell counts, soil biogeochemistry), and bioinformatics & modeling (metaanalysis, literature review statistical analysis, scaling from microbes to ecosystems, and modeling). A key aspect of our work is deciphering fundamental aspects of microbial systems, including how stress alters the ecology and evolution of microbes and microbiomes. We strive to apply the right tool to answer the question at hand, and learn new techniques, build new tools, or develop new collaborations when necessary.
Our lab values:
We value respect, collaboration, and diversity. We encourage each other to work towards making our work place more inclusive, and to make sure that everyone feels that they belong and can thrive here.
We strive to make the lab inclusive of all abilities, and work together to ensure everyone has access to research opportunities. We value and expect people to be active members of a bigger community in science.
We value sustainability and are actively working to make our work sustainable, both for our mental health and for our environmental and climate health.
We encourage active listening and mutual mentoring. We lift each other up and support one another, through mutual mentoring and willingness to learn from each other regardless of stage or age.
Through open communications and discussions, we aim to improve and maintain accessibility in science and in physical spaces by providing accommodations for both visible and invisible disability.
