About Us

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

SFA Lead Scientist

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

Scientific Leads

Xavier Mayali Xavier Mayali, Algal–Bacterial Interactions and SFA Technical Co-Manager
  • Aquatic microbial ecology & biogeochemistry
  • Algae–bacteria culturing & characterization
  • Chip-SIP technology development
Jennifer Pett-Ridge Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Plant–Microbial Interactions
  • Environmental microbial ecology
  • Isotope tracing/NanoSIMS & plant–microbe interactions
  • DOE Early Career Fellow
Peter Weber Peter Weber, New Methods Development, NanoSIMS lead scientist
  • Geochemistry, microanalysis, & isotopic analyses
  • High resolution imaging
Ali Navid 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 Erin Nuccio, Plant–Microbial Interactions, Bioinformatics
  • Root–rhizosphere transcriptomics
  • Network analysis
  • Stable Isotope Probing

LLNL Team

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

Postdoctoral Scientists

Megan Morris Megan Morris
  • Algal–bacterial interactions
  • Microbial ecology
  • Metagenomics
John Casey

John Casey

  • Metabolic and physiological modeling of microbial communities
  • Constraint-based optimization
  • Model-data integration

Staff Scientists

Jessica Wollard Jessica Wollard
  • Laboratory manager
  • Molecular & microbial techniques
Christina Ramon
Christina Ramon
  • Electron Microscopy
  • Sample preparation, embedding, & sectioning
Kristina Rolison
Kristina Rolison
  • Algal culturing
  • Microbial culturing
  • Outdoor algal management
Megan Kan
Megan Kan
  • Soil microbial ecology
  • Mycorrhizal fungi
  • Molecular techniques
Courtney Swink

Courtney Swink

  • Algal–bacterial interactions
  • Algal microbiome
  • Algal culturing
  • Molecular techniques

Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore)

Todd Lane
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
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

University of California, Berkeley

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

North Carolina State University

Christine Hawkes
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
Noah Luecke portrait
Noah Luecke, Postdoctoral Scientist
  • Plant–microbe ecology
  • Panicum beneficial partner preference under different nutrient conditions

Oregon State University

Rene Boiteau

Rene Boiteau, Assistant Professor

  • Organic Biogeochemistry
  • Trace metal cycling
Nicole Coffey

Nicole Coffey, Graduate Student

  • Trace metal cycling

University of Illinois

Mary Kraft

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

Yongqin Jiao
Daniel Nilson
Haifeng Geng
Javier Ceja-Navarro
Dagmar Woebken
Luke Burow
Catherine Lacayo
Jeremy Bougoure
Jackson Lee
Craig Everroad
Daniel Nilson
Marc Griesemer
Haifeng Geng
Adam Chorazyczewski
Miriam Windler
Christopher Ward
Yiwei Cheng
Carolyn Fisher
Marissa Lee
Katie Harding
Colleen Hui
Rachel Neurath
Rachel Hestrin
Helena Van Tol
Rebecca Ju
Noele Norris

Alumni

Brad Bebout
Lee Prufert-Bebout
Craig Everroad
Angela Detweiler
Carol Zhou
Meredith Blackwell
Oana Marcu
Anne Dekas
Alfred Spormann
Michael Thelen
Mary Lipton
Paul Zimba
Trent Northen