Research
I study how human activities reshape the microbial communities associated with wildlife. My research examines how pollution, habitat transformation, and altered contact among humans and animals influence microbial community structure, bacterial transmission, antimicrobial resistance, and host health.
By combining ecological theory with comparative, experimental, and strain-resolved genomic approaches, I aim to understand whether human-driven microbiome changes are temporary or persistent, beneficial or harmful, and whether they meaningfully affect wildlife conservation and One Health.
Microbial transmission in captivity
Captive animals often develop gut microbiomes that resemble those of humans. I use community-, strain-, and genome-resolved metagenomics to investigate whether this “humanization” reflects shared environmental pressures, microbial transmission, or both.
Pollutant co-exposure and antimicrobial resistance
Antibiotics and pesticides frequently occur together in human-impacted environments. I investigate how realistic pollutant mixtures reshape host-associated microbiomes and influence the evolution and spread of antimicrobial resistance.
The wild side of E. coli
My doctoral research examined the diversity, ecology, and genomic characteristics of Escherichia coli in a wild animal community at the wildland–urban interface, including evidence of antimicrobial resistance and human influence.