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Research Program:Currently, the primary focus in my lab is surveying microbial populations in vernal pools. We are in the process of completing a two-year seasonal study of one vernal pool, located at SSU's Fairfield Osborn Preserve. We are just beginning to look more closely at some unusual isolates of bacteria which are found frequently in this particular pool, but which are not generally considered to be aquatic bacteria. A second project of interest is the isolation of halophilic bacteria found in salt ponds. As work progresses in both of these projects, molecular probes of representative organisms will be developed. These probes will be used for comparison surveys among different sites. Both of these project areas include undergraduate and graduate students working on various specific studies. One graduate student is currently preparing a manuscript on a comparative study of Bacillus stearothermophilus isolates from different geothermal sites in California. In addition to studying bacteria living in unusual habitats, we are also involved in developing projects which will benefit students in future offerings of some of our courses. Currently there is opportunity to develop short projects which integrate bioinformatics into a variety of lab-based studies. There are additional opportunities to work in interdisciplinary teams, including students in math and computer science, on research projects involving use of computational biology and bioinformatics tools. . |
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