Microorganisms are omnipresent and capable of impacting the entire biosphere. They, especially bacteria, are highly diverse in structure and function and can play a significant role in the cycling of nutrients, remediation of contamination, and public health. Unfortunately, many people overlook the ecological interactions within the microbial communities supporting the process. Understanding these interactions requires knowledge of organisms' distribution and abundance and their interactions in an environmental setting. Further, it requires analytical tools to examine microbial organisms in an effective and timely fashion. Fortunately, high throughput culture-independent molecular methods are allowing researchers to monitor these interactions quantitatively. My research interest involves the integration of state-of-the-art microbiological measurement technologies and ecological principles into the realm of environmental protection and sustainability.

Expertise:

Antimicrobial resistance, antibiotic resistance, susceptibility assays
Microbiological community stability in engineered and natural systems
Biological Indicators of environmental pollution
Eco-toxicology, bioremediation
Outdoor, microcosm/mesocosm experimental systems

Microbiology (bacteria, fungus and micro-invertebrate) cultivation & identification
Environmental chemistry
DNA/RNA analyses (molecular biology)
Genetic probe design (primer design)
Community analysis (metagenomics, transcriptomics)

Advanced statistics: multiparametric and non-parametric tests