Microbes drive most ecosystems on Earth, but they often do so under constraints imposed by the viruses which infect them. We develop the datasets and the experimental and informatics approaches needed to “see” viruses in the oceans, soils, extreme environments, and in humans. With this information, we better understand how these ecosystems work and how viruses might be used to engineer solutions to combat nuisance microbes.

We are part of a broader group of OSU faculty studying microbial communities in diverse natural systems, read more about these microbiome researchers here.