Research Areas

I started to build my lab at NMSU during 2020 (fun fact: right at the start of the pandemic). In the last few years, we have been focused on two DOE-funded projects (see overviews here and here). Our active projects right now include AvATAC (Antivirulence Approaches to Treat Algal Crops) and W2J (Waste to Jet), focused on crop protection and sustainable aviation fuels, respectively. As the lab grows, I am open to a variety of research areas, some of which are highlighted below. I am also open to research outside of these areas if that research employs an algal model. So, if you have a question, that can be applied, for example, to human biology, and you could use algae to address that question, let's talk more.

Algal Cultivation Ecology

With untapped diversity, high photosynthetic growth rates, and a variety of valuable metabolites, algae are prime candidates for bioproducts and biofuels. Although algal biomass has been recognized as an agricultural commodity, commercial algae production is still limited by high production costs. To overcome this barrier, improvements are needed to enhance productivity and stability of cultures. In our lab, we are interested in reaching these improvements through innovations in cultivation processes and crop protection, as well as through strain improvement. We rely on lab-scale (plate, flask) and field (300 L pond) experiments as well as lab-field-lab iterations to address our research questions and reach our technical objectives. 

Algal-Bacterial Interactions

Bacteria and algae have co-evolved for millions of years, and multiple endosymbiosis events have generated the algal lineages present today. Within this context, algal-bacterial associations continue to affect the structure and function of ecosystems globally. Of relevance to algal cultivation industries is the potential for bacteria to enhance productivity or alternatively destroy a crop.  We are interested in understanding positive and negative effects of bacteria on culture productivity, stability, and community dynamics. Previous work has focused on identifying bacteria that enhance growth of Nannochloropsis. Although we have found isolates to be beneficial in the lab, these effects have not scaled to the field. Ongoing work is aimed at understanding the factors that influence algal-bacterial associations across scales and levels of complexity.

a 300 L pond at the Fabian Garcia Science Center

algae and bacteria, image by S. Shalygin (NMSU)

Synthetic Ecology

Although ecological engineering of microbiota has been slow to advance, a strong body of evidence now illustrates the benefits of microbial amendments in crop management practices. Bacteria, fungi, and algae can each enhance soil health, increase crop productivity, and reduce reliance on commercial fertilizers – ultimately supporting sustainable agriculture. However, our ability to effectively use microbes in production systems (both aquatic and terrestrial) is limited by our knowledge of microbiome structure and function. Typically, microbial amendments employ a shotgun approach; that is, they are not tailored for specific functions. We are interested in synthetic ecological approaches to design microbial consortia to meet specific functions in both traditional agricultural and algacultural systems.

Harmful Algal Blooms

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are worsening through time as humans continue to manipulate land, water, and climate systems. Blooms damage environmental and human health; result in losses to commercial fisheries, tourism, and recreation; incur costs associated with monitoring, management, and cleanup; and can generate more insidious sociocultural effects. HABs affect waterbodies across the country. In New Mexico, HAB monitoring is considerably limited, with some water bodies only sampled every decade. Yet, certain water bodies, like the Elephant Butte Reservoir have chronic HAB problems. We are interested in supporting HAB research in New Mexico to better understand how HABs will affect socioeconomic resources in a changing climate. We are also interested in mitigating the negative effects of HABs through creative solutions.