My research interests broadly include topics of microbial ecology, ecosystems science, and microbial physiology. In these areas, I explore questions about microbial community composition and dynamics, ecosystem function, and biogeochemical cycling of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). The common thread throughout these projects is an attempt to bring together molecular ecology and geochemical perspectives. Molecular tools offer tremendous resolution with respect to phylogenetic and functional diversity, but lack inherent information regarding transformation rates. Geochemical rate measurements, on the other hand, are typically conducted without knowledge of the requisite microorganisms. My focus has been to try to bridge this gap by leveraging microbial ecology tools in highly collaborative projects that involve metabolic rate and ecosystems perspectives in aquatic, soil, and subsurface environments
