Research

We study plants as holobionts—integrated systems made up of the plant and its associated microbial partners—to understand how this collective unit responds to environmental challenges and shapes plant health, development, and evolution.

We use experimental evolution to shape microbiomes that enhance specific traits in plants.

We investigate the ecological and environmental factors that govern how microbial communities assembly on plants.

We explore how microbial partners may contribute to the success of invasive plants and insects in new environments.

We examine how plant-associated microbes can act as drivers of plant evolution.

We study how microbes influence plant interactions with insects, from pollinators to herbivores, and how insects in turn shape plant microbiomes.