Research
My research broadly aims to understand how the physical complexity of an environment shape microbial community composition, functioning, and stability.
Physical complexity shapes microbial communities
Communities are known to be shaped by many abiotic and biotic factors of the environment. Two abiotic factors that are important drivers of community structure and functioning are residence time and habitat complexity.
Residence time, the time a particle spends in a system, can be calculated from the volume and flow rate of a system. Previous work in the Lennon lab by Kenneth J. Locey has used stochastic individual-based models (IBMs) to show that residence time of an environment influences many ecological patterns such as species diversity, abundance, and productivity.
Habitat complexity is the arrangement of objects in an environment. These objects can range from topographic features to resources. Definitions of habitat complexity are often study specific and therefore lack the ability to aid more generally in understanding patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Microbial communities are ideal for studying how physical complexity of environments shapes community composition, function, and stability as they are easily manipulated in the laboratory and are abundant in variable environments in nature. My research looks at the impact of these abiotic factors in many systems ranging from naturally occurring microbial communities to experimentally modified mesocosms.
Residence time, the time a particle spends in a system, can be calculated from the volume and flow rate of a system. Previous work in the Lennon lab by Kenneth J. Locey has used stochastic individual-based models (IBMs) to show that residence time of an environment influences many ecological patterns such as species diversity, abundance, and productivity.
Habitat complexity is the arrangement of objects in an environment. These objects can range from topographic features to resources. Definitions of habitat complexity are often study specific and therefore lack the ability to aid more generally in understanding patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Microbial communities are ideal for studying how physical complexity of environments shapes community composition, function, and stability as they are easily manipulated in the laboratory and are abundant in variable environments in nature. My research looks at the impact of these abiotic factors in many systems ranging from naturally occurring microbial communities to experimentally modified mesocosms.