About Us

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

SFA Lead Scientist

Rhona Stuart Aquatic microbiology, phycology, & ecology Proteogenomic integration with stable isotope tracing

Scientific Leads

	Xavier Mayali, Algal–Bacterial Interactions and Technical Co-Manager Aquatic microbial ecology & biogeochemistry Algae–bacteria culturing & characterization Chip-SIP technology development
	Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Plant–Microbial Interactions Environmental microbial ecology Isotope tracing/NanoSIMS & plant–microbe interactions DOE Early Career Fellow
	Peter Weber, New Methods Development, NanoSIMS lead scientist Geochemistry, microanalysis, & isotopic analyses High resolution imaging
	Ali Navid, Computational Modeling Advanced scientific computing In silico models of cellular processes at genome scale Predictive multi-objective models of metabolism in communities
	Erin Nuccio, Plant–Microbial Interactions, Bioinformatics Root–rhizosphere transcriptomics Network analysis Stable Isotope Probing

LLNL Team

	Patrik D’haeseleer Bioinformatics Computational biologist Meta-‘omics analysis & systems biology of communities
	Jeff Kimbrel Plant–microbial interactions Bioinformatics & computational biology
	Vanessa Brisson Metabolomics Bioinformatics Plant-microbe interactions
	Ty Samo Algae–bacteria culturing Growth analyses using bulk and single-cell approaches
	Steve Blazewicz Plant-microbial interactions Quantitative Stable Isotope Probing (qSIP) Isotope tracing with 13C, 15N and 18O

Postdoctoral Scientists

	John Casey Metabolic and physiological modeling of microbial communities Constraint-based optimization Model-data integration
	Naomi Gilbert Aquatic microbial and viral ecology Algal-bacterial interactions Trace metals
	Di Liang Microbial ecology Plant-microbe interaction Soil biogeochemistry

Staff Scientists

	Jessica Wollard Laboratory manager Molecular & microbial techniques
	Christina Ramon Electron Microscopy Sample preparation, embedding, & sectioning
	Kristina Rolison Algal culturing Microbial culturing Outdoor algal management
	Megan Kan Soil microbial ecology Mycorrhizal fungi Molecular techniques
	Josh White Plant–fungal interactions Molecular techniques Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi culturing

Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore)

Todd Lane, Distinguished Member, Sandia Technical Staff Applied phycology & molecular genetics of microalgae Automated analysis of next-gen sequencing for communities Macronutrient recycling to promote sustainable algal biomass production

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

	Eoin Brodie, Deputy Director, LBNL Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division Environmental microbial ecology & community dynamics Technologies for multi-scale analysis of microbial diversity and function Development of trait-based models to represent microbial interactions
	Gianna Marschmann, Postdoctoral researcher Soil microbial ecology and biogeochemistry Computational models and algorithms

University of California, Berkeley

Sabeeha Merchant, Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry Chlamydomonas biology, bioenergetics, & molecular genetics Physiology of trace metals and elements in Chlamydomonas Bacterial impact on expression of the algal genome

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

	Cullen Buie, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Microscale flow physics for materials science and microbiology Fluid mechanics, phenotyping in microfluidics
	Hyungseok Kim, Graduate Student Microfluidics & electrochemical applications to microbial interactions Dielectrophoretic technology development for energy applications

North Carolina State University

Christine Hawkes, Associate Professor of Integrative Biology Ecology and evolution of plant–microbe interactions Effects of symbiotic fungi on grass physiology Community and ecosystem drivers and impacts of microbiomes

University of Minnesota

	Rene Boiteau, Assistant Professor Organic Biogeochemistry Trace metal cycling
	Nicole Coffey, Graduate Student Trace metal cycling

University of Illinois

	Mary Kraft, Associate Professor and Robert W. Schaefer Scholar in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Bioimaging Single cell analyses Membrane imaging
	Melanie Brunet, Graduate Student

Alumni—Former Postdocs and Students

Alumni