Embedded Files
CURRENT RESEARCH
CURRENT RESEARCH
Funding Sources
NSF PRF Biology
NASA
Oceans Across Space and Time (through NASA)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD
Elucidating ancient metabolisms and early life through viral biophysical chemistry and environmental co-evolution
Elucidating ancient metabolisms and early life through viral biophysical chemistry and environmental co-evolution
Acidity and salinity influence viral ecogenomics and microbial evolution in polyextreme lakes
Acidity and salinity influence viral ecogenomics and microbial evolution in polyextreme lakes
Acid-brine lakes in Western Australia share more sedimentary and mineralogic characteristics with the Burns formation on Mars than any other known environment on Earth.
How does acidity and water activity influence microbial and viral ecology?
Can viruses benefit microbial host metabolism and support microbial adaptation and evolution?
Aerial view of numerous acid-brine lakes covering the southern region of Western Australia
Microbial host-virus dynamics across the redoxcline of Orca Basin
The hypersaline, chemically-reducing, and anoxic conditions that define the Orca Basin, a large deep-sea hypersaline anoxic basin (DHAB), make this environment one of the most extreme environments for life on Earth. We can leverage this system to gain better insight into the limits of life and viral entities on Earth and beyond.
Which microbial and viral communities are present and metabolically active throughout the redoxcline in Orca Basin?
What role do these communities play in carbon cycling in this system?
Are viruses present and active in low-energy environments?
SEA-VAP
SEA-VAP
(SEAwater eVAPoration experiment)
(SEAwater eVAPoration experiment)
Microbial communities and their associated viruses are critical drivers of global biogeochemical cycles. Yet, our understanding of how changing environmental conditions as a result of climate change —such as increasing salinity in non-freshwater systems—impact viral dynamics, microbial evolution, and the broader implications for global biogeochemical processes remains limited.
How do changes in viral infection strategies alter host metabolic phenotype in response to increased osmotic stress?
How do salinity-driven changes in viral activity impact host growth rate, burst size, and respiration?
Does increasing osmotic stress drive microbial adaptation and evolution via viral-mediated HGT?
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Viral metagenomics of Okavango Delta water pans reveal novel insights into wildlife disease potential
See published work here.
Linking microbial ecology to the cycling of neutral and acidic polysaccharides in pustular mats from Shark Bay, Western Australia
See published work here.
Predicting metabolic roles of two members of the rare biosphere:
Candidate phyla Hydrogenedentota and Sumerlaeota
See published work here.
Cycling of sulfated polysaccharides in microbial mats from Shark Bay, Western Australia
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse