College of Biological Sciences
Twin Cities
This lab studies the functions and interactions of microorganisms in natural and engineered systems and how microbial communities respond and adapt to environmental change. They are particularly interested in life at the fringe, including redox gradients and temperature extremes. They use traditional microbiology and molecular techniques as well as next generation -omics approaches in combination with high resolution geochemical and geological data. The integration of these data results in a multidisciplinary approach to examine the in situ dynamics of microbial interactions and the affect of these interactions on local and global biogeochemical cycles.
Ongoing projects in the lab include:
- Microbial primary productivity in the Proterozoic oceans
- The limits of chlorophototrophy (from glaciers to hot springs)
- Competitive interactions and microbial community assembly
- The ecology and physiology of toxin-producing Cyanobacteria
Research by this group was featured on the MSI website in November 2021: Bioinformatics Research of Algal Blooms in Ice.