Research

Postdoctoral Research @ WLU | Cyanobacteria-dominated harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) are a common occurrence in freshwater ecosystems. Induced by a variety of environmental cues, large blooms often result in detrimental ecosystem effects and the production of potentially fatal toxins such as microcystin. My current work is part of the cross-institutional Global Water Futures program and is focused on understanding the role various environmental factors play in cyanoHAB onset, duration, and cessation in temperate lakes using long-term datasets from the IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) and the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA).

PhD Research | Microbe-phage interactions are at the heart of oceanic biogeochemical cycles. The delicate and dynamic structure of these interactions are regulated by rapid evolutionary changes that allow microbial hosts to become resistant and phage predators to reinfect. Often, however, these types of interactions occur in resource poor environments which may alter contact rates, population dynamics, and ultimately selection for defense and counter defense traits. My dissertation research centered on understanding how resource stoichiometry, particularly with nitrogen and phosphorus, influenced the ecology and evolution of microbe-phage interactions and microbial communities by linking population ecology to the molecular mechanisms of resistance.

Learn more about research projects in the Lennon Lab and IU Department of Biology.

In addition, I have also contributed to STEM education and microbial community ecology projects and work as a microbial ecology analyst for Second Genome, Inc.