Our lab studies marine and estuarine microbial ecology, and the manner in which the local and global environment shapes microbial communities.

General topics of interest:
-Microbial biogeography
-Geomicrobiology and the impact of changing environments on community structure and function
-Marine hydrocarbon seeps

Specific areas of study:
-Impacts of historic wooden shipwrecks on seafloor microbiomes
-Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Spill on shipwreck microbial communities
-The microbiology of methane-charged continental shelf sediments
-The role of microorganisms in the development of anoxia in the Chesapeake Bay