Microbes have colonized all environments on Earth. When bacteria are 'good', they are responsible for ecosystem functions such as maintaining soil fertility, aiding in digestion, and recycling nutrients. When they are 'bad', they are responsible for disease and may have negative impacts on whole environments, such as the eutrophication of lakes. I am interested in understanding how microbial communities respond to stress, and in understanding the similarities across microbiomes.

To this end, my research focuses on:

• microbial community assembly over space and time, especially in the case of disturbance

    This includes studies of the spatiotemporal assembly of cheese, animal (e.g. pig and chicken), and soil     microbiomes, especially under antropogenic pressures.

• microbial data stewardship which includes developing analytical and conceptual tools to improve the interpretation of microbiome data, and fostering improved, equitable data sharing to accelerate the pace of discovery in microbiome research

    This includes developing and maintaining MiCoDa (the Microbial Community Database) and participating in     advocacy. I am the co-chair of the Global Young Academy's Open Science group, and one of the Research     Data Alliance's 2023 Ambassadors.

​FAO, ITPS, GSBI, SCBD, and EC. 2020. State of knowledge of soil biodiversity - Status, challenges and potentialities, Report 2020. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb1928en