Who are we?
Current People
Dr.Klaus Nüsslein
Principal Investigator
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 413-545-1356
Principal Investigator
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 413-545-1356
Emily Bechtold
PhD Candidate
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am interested in disease ecology and how microorganisms interact with humans. In the Nüsslein lab, I will be working on microorganisms in the phyllosphere of pasture grasses in temperate zones and in the tropics (Amazonia)..
PhD Candidate
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am interested in disease ecology and how microorganisms interact with humans. In the Nüsslein lab, I will be working on microorganisms in the phyllosphere of pasture grasses in temperate zones and in the tropics (Amazonia)..
David Ahlberg
PhD Candidate [email protected] Research Focus: I am primarily interested in the agricultural nitrogen cycle and limiting nitrogen losses through nitrate runoff and emission of nitrous oxide, a very potent greenhouse gas. I am currently researching different cropping systems to harness the natural ability of certain plants to limit the microbial processes responsible for nitrogen losses in agriculture, which will inform the development of more sustainable agricultural practices for more efficient, greener farms. |
John Fellows
Visiting Research Scientist [email protected] Research Focus: Investigating the broad geographic distribution of elements at a continental scale and correlating metal elements with geographic distribution of organisms |
David Abraham
Undergraduate Researcher
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am working with Emily to cultivate and identify the microorganisms growing on the leaf surfaces of common grasses. Specifically, I want to use the extracted DNA to identify these bacteria and to look for genes that would provide the bacteria with physiological capabilities that would support their host plants in resisting or recovering from drought exposure. The findings of this research could provide information on how microorganisms in the phyllosphere can be utilized to support plants in drought conditions, which is important for facing agricultural challenges in the future as the need for more food production continues to rise with an increasing world population.
Undergraduate Researcher
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am working with Emily to cultivate and identify the microorganisms growing on the leaf surfaces of common grasses. Specifically, I want to use the extracted DNA to identify these bacteria and to look for genes that would provide the bacteria with physiological capabilities that would support their host plants in resisting or recovering from drought exposure. The findings of this research could provide information on how microorganisms in the phyllosphere can be utilized to support plants in drought conditions, which is important for facing agricultural challenges in the future as the need for more food production continues to rise with an increasing world population.
Simon Chiang
Undergraduate Researcher
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am working with Emily to cultivate and identify the
microorganisms growing on the leaf surfaces of common grasses. After that I will move on and use bioinformatics methods to evaluate soil microbial community changes in response to two effects of climate change, namely soil warming and nitrogen addition in a temperate forest.
Undergraduate Researcher
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am working with Emily to cultivate and identify the
microorganisms growing on the leaf surfaces of common grasses. After that I will move on and use bioinformatics methods to evaluate soil microbial community changes in response to two effects of climate change, namely soil warming and nitrogen addition in a temperate forest.
Brenda Genium
Undergraduate Researcher
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am working with Emily and a collaborator at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture (Prof. DaCosta) to determine microbial community shifts on turf-grass species and their cultivars in response to one of the major climate crisis threats: drought.
Undergraduate Researcher
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am working with Emily and a collaborator at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture (Prof. DaCosta) to determine microbial community shifts on turf-grass species and their cultivars in response to one of the major climate crisis threats: drought.
Geoffrey Koech
Undergraduate Researcher
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am working with David Ahlberg to identify genes of the nitrogen cycle in agricultural experiments of plant-microbe interactions. Specifically, we are interested in the capacity of common crop grasses to inhibit nitrification and influence the production of the potent greenhouse gas N2O.
Undergraduate Researcher
[email protected]
Research Focus: I am working with David Ahlberg to identify genes of the nitrogen cycle in agricultural experiments of plant-microbe interactions. Specifically, we are interested in the capacity of common crop grasses to inhibit nitrification and influence the production of the potent greenhouse gas N2O.
Past Lab Members
Dr. Marie Kroeger -- Postdoctoral Researcher, Los Alamos National Labs, New Mexico
Sarah Moughan -- Biotech Industry
Luke Gibney -- Biotech Industry
Rachel Feldman -- Medical School
Stephanie Ryan -- Medical School
Dr. Jeongdae Im -- Assistant Professor, Kansas State University
Dr. Muhammad Arif -- Visiting Fulbright Fellow, Assistant Professor, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Pakistan
Dr. George Hamaoui -- Assistant Professor, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Ciara Rea – MS program in Biotechnology, UMass-Amherst
Kiran Khan -- Massachusetts School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston
Alex Thompson – Researcher, Boston Children's Hospital
Amanda Chuong – Graduate student, pharmacy school
Kimberly Rousseau -- PhD student, John Hopkins University
Dan Yip – Researcher, Microbes BioSciences, Houston, TX
Dr. Burcu Ünal, Assistant Professor, Belent Ecevit Univ., Zonguldak, Turkey
Deepak Sharma, Researcher, Meso Scale Diagnostics, Washington, D.C.
Dr. Daniel Lammel, Postdoctoral Researcher, Freie Univ. Berlin, Germany
Dr. Kyung Hwa Baek, Senior Researcher, National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea
Dr. Heather Reed – Ugrad Advisor and Lecturer, UMass-Amherst
Nikita Nayyar, New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY
Daniel Hughes, Manager, MCR Labs, Boston, MA
Deepti Sreepathi, Clinical Researcher, Astellas Pharma, Boston, MA
Nazita Gamini, Licensing Attorney, Brandeis Univ., Boston, MA
Brendan Murphy, Litigation Attorney at Fish & Richardson, Boston, MA
Samuel Estabrooks, PhD student, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA
Vyacheslav Yanyuk, deceased
Alexander March, Researcher, Univ. Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Kushi-Nidhi Kumar, Researcher, Pharmaceutical Product Development, Richmond, VA
Kewei Zhang, Emergency Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC
Chris Nelson, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy/Health Sciences, Worcester, MA
Kahlil Rieber, Commonwealth Alternative Care, Boston, MA
Francesca Long, Torpedo Diagnostics, Boston
Dr. Vicente Gomez-Alvarez, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati
Peter Martel, Rain or Shine Corp., Randolph, VT
Dawn Ciulla, Researcher, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Univ., Boston
Kristen Forlorney, Support Medical Systems, Rhode Island
Arshik Ahamed Abdul Samad, Springfield Technical College, Westfield, MA
Brian Gibney, Independent Entrepeneur, Altanta, GA
Jeffrey Dabkowski, Physician Assistant, OrthoCarolina, Charlotte, NC
Dr. Javier Izquierdo -- Assistant Professor, Hofstra Univ., New York
Dr. Caryl Ann Becerra -- Postdoctoral researcher, UC-Santa Barbara, CA
Dr. Teresa Conneely -- Senior Application Scientist, Scilligence Corporation, Boston, MA
Dr. Lisa Stout -- Adjunct Instructor,Holy Family University, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Chris Vriezen -- Lecturer in Biology at Smith College, Northampton, MA
Dr. Christine Barreto -- Professor, Univ. Catolica de Brasilia, Brazil
Sarah Moughan -- Biotech Industry
Luke Gibney -- Biotech Industry
Rachel Feldman -- Medical School
Stephanie Ryan -- Medical School
Dr. Jeongdae Im -- Assistant Professor, Kansas State University
Dr. Muhammad Arif -- Visiting Fulbright Fellow, Assistant Professor, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Pakistan
Dr. George Hamaoui -- Assistant Professor, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Ciara Rea – MS program in Biotechnology, UMass-Amherst
Kiran Khan -- Massachusetts School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston
Alex Thompson – Researcher, Boston Children's Hospital
Amanda Chuong – Graduate student, pharmacy school
Kimberly Rousseau -- PhD student, John Hopkins University
Dan Yip – Researcher, Microbes BioSciences, Houston, TX
Dr. Burcu Ünal, Assistant Professor, Belent Ecevit Univ., Zonguldak, Turkey
Deepak Sharma, Researcher, Meso Scale Diagnostics, Washington, D.C.
Dr. Daniel Lammel, Postdoctoral Researcher, Freie Univ. Berlin, Germany
Dr. Kyung Hwa Baek, Senior Researcher, National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea
Dr. Heather Reed – Ugrad Advisor and Lecturer, UMass-Amherst
Nikita Nayyar, New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY
Daniel Hughes, Manager, MCR Labs, Boston, MA
Deepti Sreepathi, Clinical Researcher, Astellas Pharma, Boston, MA
Nazita Gamini, Licensing Attorney, Brandeis Univ., Boston, MA
Brendan Murphy, Litigation Attorney at Fish & Richardson, Boston, MA
Samuel Estabrooks, PhD student, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA
Vyacheslav Yanyuk, deceased
Alexander March, Researcher, Univ. Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Kushi-Nidhi Kumar, Researcher, Pharmaceutical Product Development, Richmond, VA
Kewei Zhang, Emergency Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC
Chris Nelson, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy/Health Sciences, Worcester, MA
Kahlil Rieber, Commonwealth Alternative Care, Boston, MA
Francesca Long, Torpedo Diagnostics, Boston
Dr. Vicente Gomez-Alvarez, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati
Peter Martel, Rain or Shine Corp., Randolph, VT
Dawn Ciulla, Researcher, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Univ., Boston
Kristen Forlorney, Support Medical Systems, Rhode Island
Arshik Ahamed Abdul Samad, Springfield Technical College, Westfield, MA
Brian Gibney, Independent Entrepeneur, Altanta, GA
Jeffrey Dabkowski, Physician Assistant, OrthoCarolina, Charlotte, NC
Dr. Javier Izquierdo -- Assistant Professor, Hofstra Univ., New York
Dr. Caryl Ann Becerra -- Postdoctoral researcher, UC-Santa Barbara, CA
Dr. Teresa Conneely -- Senior Application Scientist, Scilligence Corporation, Boston, MA
Dr. Lisa Stout -- Adjunct Instructor,Holy Family University, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Chris Vriezen -- Lecturer in Biology at Smith College, Northampton, MA
Dr. Christine Barreto -- Professor, Univ. Catolica de Brasilia, Brazil
