Agricultural Microbiomes
Research in our center explores microbes in both plant and animal agricultural contexts, exploring how microbiomes can be leveraged to improve food production, quality, and nutritional values in foods, as well as soil and plant health. We are also exploring the effects of antibiotic resistance in food production and how integrating microbiomes into classical food science research may reduce foodborne illnesses.
Faculty Working in Agricultural Microbiomes
Jasna Kovac
Lester Earl and Veronica Casida Career Development Professor of Food Safety; Associate Professor of Food Science
Integrating epidemiological, microbiological, molecular and omics methods to better understand microbial pathogenic potential, antimicrobial resistance, and epidemiology of foodborne pathogens.
Siela Maximova
Research Professor of Plant Biotechnology Co-Director, Endowed Program in the Molecular Biology of Cocoa
Molecular basis of plant-pathogen and plant-endophyte interactions. Biotechnology of tree crops. Development of sustainable energy crops.
Veronica Roman-Reyna
Assistant Professor of Global Change Pathology
I work on understanding how plant-associated microbes change in agricultural systems.
Mekala Venkatachalam
Director of the CSL Behring Fermentation Facility; Assistant Research Professor
