I have a special interest in environments in which nutrients, energy and biomass are scarce, and life is potentially operating at its limits. The overarching goal of my research is to better understand the cell life cycle strategies and genomic mechanisms that shape microbial community structure and function in such extreme environments. We work in the Arctic, Antarctic and in between to understand how microbes on our planet mediate biogeochemical cycling, especially in a changing world.
Understanding the limits of life is important on Earth, but also helps inform how and where we look for life elsewhere – in our solar system and beyond. Many of the environments I study, and questions I ask are related to the fascinating field of Astrobiology. Check out a talk I have given at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences here on how we can learn from microorganisms on Earth, to inform the search for life elsewhere.
Please feel free to contact me about my research, or any other questions. Please feel free to request PDFs of my publications ( Link to Google Scholar).
EDUCATION
2016 Ph.D., Environmental Microbiology, McGill University
2010 MSc., Molecular Ecology, University of Toronto
2008 H. B.Sc., Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Toronto