Protist Ecology

大多数生物都是微生物。这包括原生生物，植物和动物的微小亲戚。我使用基因组数据来快速表征原生生物在空间和时间上的生物多样性，并通过操纵实验来了解这种分布背后的因素。原生生物虽然只是微观的，但它们对水生生态系统有着巨大的影响，因为它们影响着营养物质和能量的流动。此外，生活在人类肠道中的多种原生生物对人类健康有着深远的影响。这项研究将使我们能够更准确地预测微生物对环境挑战的反应，并更好地了解我们肠道中原生生物与我们健康之间的联系。

Most organisms are microbial. This includes protists, the tiny relatives of plants and animals. I use genomic data to rapidly characterize protist biodiversity over space and time, and manipulative experiments to understand what factors underlie this distribution. Though only microscopic, protists have huge impacts on aquatic ecosystems because they influence the flow of nutrients and energy. Additionally, the diverse protists that live in the human gut have profound influences on human health. This research will allow more accurate predictions about the microbial response to environmental challenges and better understanding of the connection between protists in our gut and our health.