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CURRENT RESEARCH
CURRENT RESEARCH
Funding Sources
NSF PRF Biology
NASA
Oceans Across Space and Time (through NASA)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD
Unraveling the influence of acidity and water activity on microbial host-virus interactions in acid-brine lakes in Western Australia, Australia
Unraveling the influence of acidity and water activity on microbial host-virus interactions in acid-brine lakes in Western Australia, Australia
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?
Metaviromics of waterholes in Botswana, Southern Africa
Between May and July 2020, the Seronga region adjacent to the Okavango Panhandle in Botswana experienced an unprecedented elephant mass-mortality event. This event remains unexplained; however, many carcasses were located near seasonal water pans leading us to question whether a potential link exists between wildlife health and drinking water.
Could viruses potentially play a role in elephant sickness and death?
PREVIOUS (GRADUATE) RESEARCH
PREVIOUS (GRADUATE) RESEARCH
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
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