I am an environmental microbiologist that applies high-throughput bioinformatic and genomic tools to the study of bacterial ecology and evolution. A common thread in my research is the following question: What is the molecular basis of interactions between bacteria and eukaryotes and ultimately, how do these relationships impact bacterial diversity, population structure, and genomic evolution. In order to best answer this question I have developed expertise in molecular techniques as well as bioinformatics. I have used genomic sequencing and microarray hybridizations to better understand the relationship between chemoautotrophic bacteria and their invertebrate hosts; I have used the massively parallel 454 pyrosequencing technology to determine the diversity of bacteria associated with Cystic Fibrosis patients. 

I am currently an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow under Dr. Ralph Isberg at Tufts University. I am funded, in collaboration with Dr. Seth Bordenstein, to investigate the molecular interactions between the parasite Wolbachia and its insect hosts.