I am a Microbiome Scientist and my research lives at the nexus of ecology, microbiology, evolutionary biology, genomics/multi-omics, bioinformatics, and global change biology. My research has focused on host-microbiome interactions in the context of disease, host development, and environmental stress, with a strong emphasis on understanding how environmental changes shape microbial communities, and how they shape plant stress responses.

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My experience extends from working with perennial tree crops (citrus) to prairie grasses and maize. I use field sampling, manipulative microbiome experiments (full-complexity microbiomes and synthetic communities), predictive modeling, and functional genomics to explore host-microbiome interaction from the molecular- to ecosystem-level. Currently, my research aims to understand how soil and plant-associated microbial communities (bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc.) adapt to environmental stress (i.e. drought) and how microbiome history shapes plant adaptive responses to global change factors.

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Additionally, As a first-generation college student, I am committed to making science accessible and fostering diversity in higher education. This connects with my goals of enhancing Microbiome Sciences education at graduate, undergraduate, and pre-college levels (Ginnan & Bordenstein, 2023, PLOS Bio).