Ongoing Research
My program is focused on understanding the effects of global change on microbial communities through fundamental and applied research. Specifically, I concentrate on the multitrophic impacts of climate change and biological invasion. Additionally, I utilize reductionist microbial systems to explore fundamental aspects of invasion biology.
Improving Soil Microbial Inoculations in Agricultural Systems
This research aims to enhance the performance of microbial amendments in phosphorous-deficient soils. Here, we will investigate bacterial and fungal inoculants applied at varying frequencies and doses (i.e., propagule pressure) for their effects on plant performance and impacts on soil health parameters over two growing seasons. Our focal species of plant is spring wheat.
Project Funded by USDA NIFA- PIs Gordon Custer and Francisco Dini-Andreote. Grant #2024-67012-42839.
Community Coalescence and Microbial Invasion
While exceedingly rare in macro-ecological systems, the movement of intact communities may be the norm, rather than an exception, in microbial systems. This research aim seeks to understand the implications of microbial community coalescence through experimental approaches and theory development.
Belowground Effects of Invasive Plants
Invasive plants are known to affect many ecosystem properties including local bio-diversity and nutrient cycling. Their effects on the soil microbiome have, until recently, been understudied. In this research, I am to develop our understanding of how invasive plants affect the structure and function of the soil microbiome.
Project Funded by National Science Foundation grant #1655726 awarded to PIs Brent Ewers, Cynthia Weinig, Linda van Diepen, Christian Buerkle, Naomi Ward, and Robert Hall of the University of Wyoming.
Non-target Effects of Agro-chemicals
Chemical pesticides are widely applied to natural and agricultural systems. While the aboveground effects are well documented, their influence on belowground processes is less well understood. Here, I seek to describe the non-target effects of chemical herbicide application on the soil microbiome.
Project Funded by National Science Foundation grant #1655726 awarded to PIs Brent Ewers, Cynthia Weinig, Linda van Diepen, Christian Buerkle, Naomi Ward, and Robert Hall of the University of Wyoming.
Rhizosphere Culture Collection
Using a high throughput culture approach, we aim to culture 500 unique bacterial isolates from the rhizosphere of wheat and maize for use in future experiments.
Past Projects
Improving Crop Tolerance to Stress
In collaboration with the Lynch Lab at Penn State and the Schneider Lab at Wageningen University, Netherlands, we studied the influence of multiseriate cortical sclerenchyma (MCS) and drought on plant-microbe interactions.
Project Funded by USDA NIFA- PIs Jonathan Lynch, Hannah Schneider, and Franciscso Dini-Andreote.