I am interested in understanding the interplay between environmental change, microbial ecology, and global carbon cycling. Carbon stored in marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) nearly equals the atmospheric carbon dioxide pool in size and plays an important, but not well understood role in the global carbon cycle. The overall metabolic activities of marine microbes are not only responsible for the emergence of the immense molecular complexity of the DOM pool, but may also play an important role in its persistence in the marine environment.

I aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of microbial physiology in the context of DOM cycling by integrating multi-omics data with high resolution molecular characterization of DOM along environmental gradients. Analytical approaches that will help me address this question include ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS, Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry) as well as a combination of shotgun metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and long-read sequencing.