I am a microbial ecologist interested in tackling important problems at the interface of basic and applied research. The revolution in high-throughput DNA sequencing has conclusively demonstrated the importance of microbial communities for life on earth. Microbial ecology cuts across many fields and I have applied the tools and techniques of microbial ecology to disciplines ranging from oceanography to human and animal health. My graduate training combined classical and microbial ecology but I only considered myself a microbiologist after working in the Microbiology Department of the University of Washington, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and the University of Warwick. Four years as a research microbiologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service gave me first-hand knowledge of the poultry industry and a chance to apply the tools and techniques of microbial ecology to veterinary microbiology. Most of the current focus of my research is on the poultry microbiome and its relationships to food safety, infectious disease, and poultry nutrition. Our standard toolkit combines field work with classical microbiology, microscopy, quantitative PCR, high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing, metagenomics, and associated bioinformatics. We are currently funded through several intramural mechanisms, extramural grants, and industry partnerships.
