Projects
Overall experience
My main research experience has involved the study of functional diversity and metabolic plasticity of prokaryotes and how these traits are shaped by environmental factors, community interactions, and evolutionary history. I have worked with pathway genome databases; curating and predicting functions and metabolic pathways. These analyses span individual model organisms, groups of related bacteria, and complex natural microbial communities. My current work involves culturing and genome characterization of prokaryotes from hydrothermal vent systems and analyzing the dynamics of a microbial communities in a meromictic pond over time and space.
In addition to working at WHOI, I am an Adjunct Faculty at Cape Cod Community College where I teach General Biology and Microbiology.
Current Projects
Analysis of the microbial community in Siders Pond
I am currently investigating metagenome and metatranscriptome datasets collected from Siders Pond, a meromictic pond in Falmouth, MA. Biological samples from Siders Pond were collected over time and space along with environmental parameters such as oxygen, chlorophyll, sulfide, and phosphate. The aim of this research is to gain insight into microbial diversity in this highly stratified environment including taxonomic makeup, functional potential, and dynamic changes in community structure and functionals over time and space. This research is done in collaboration with Drs. Julie Huber (WHOI) and Joe Vallino (MBL). Our functional analysis will be used to refine a thermodynamic based model developed for the Siders Pond ecosystem (Huber and Vallino, 2018), allowing us the challenging but unique opportunity to join our gene-based functional studies to the metabolic connections in the model.
Isolation and characterization of prokaryotes from hydrothermal vent environments
Research in the Huber lab includes studying microbial community dynamics at hydrothermal vent systems. Vent fluid is collected for various molecular analyses and for culturing and discovery of novel environmental isolates. A collection of approximately 120 isolates of bacteria and archaea and >100 deep-sea enrichments exist in the lab. Isolations of chemolithoautotrophs and heterotrophs are done mainly under anaerobic conditions. Together with our summer Community College students, I have isolated several novel bacteria and archaea from the deep sea. We have obtained genome sequences from some of the isolates, analyzed their taxonomy and gene encoded functions with KBase, and performed growth analyses.
CC-CREW Coordinator and Lab Manager
My work as coordinator of CC-CREW includes promoting our program, recruitment of students, review applications, and interview and select candidates. I work with the students during their time at WHOI teaching an introductory "Microbe crash course", lead group activities including field trips and college visits, and mentor research projects.
In the Huber lab I also assist with general lab maintenance including safety, anaerobic culturing system, culture collection etc.