Microbial Ecology lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology

Joined March 2022
Join our new lab @UF_IFAS as a grad student! We study how plant–microbe interactions drive ecosystem function. Now recruiting PhD students (Fall 2026) via the Microbiology & Cell Science program. 💰 Fully funded (~$35k) | 🗓 Deadline: Dec 15, 2025 🔗 sites.google.com/view/roland…
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Cordgrass keeps Georgia's marshes healthy, but how does it stay healthy? @KostkaLab used advanced genomic methods to discover bacteria detoxify sulfide and fix nitrogen, enhancing plant health and resilience. 🌾b.gatech.edu/4aDzHH5
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The mechanisms underlying plant-microbe interactions in coastal ecosystems are little explored. Rolando et al. use multi-omics & biogeochemical measurements to investigate saltmarsh cordgrass root microbiome. @joseluisrolando @KostkaLab nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
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Excited to finally see this online! Here, we link N fixation to sulfur oxidation in Spartina alterniflora roots -the dominant marsh plant in the US. Interestingly, our discovered symbionts are closely related to those living in the gills of marine clams! nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
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Sulfur oxidation and reduction are coupled to nitrogen fixation in the roots of a salt marsh foundation plant species biorxiv.org/cgi/content/shor… #biorxiv_micrbio
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From our Coastal & #MarineEcology track: #ExtremeEvents can cause long-lasting #SaltMarsh dieback - further eroding resilience to #SeaLevelRise doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4467 #ClimateChange #OpenAccess #NSFFunded @NSF @NFWFnews @NOAAFisheries @GTResearchNews
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A good week so far! On Monday I defended my PhD Thesis. Today, the second first-author publication from my PhD work was just released 🙂
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More on some ongoing salt marsh restoration efforts here in CHS. Looking forward to more collaboration with the fine folks @KostkaLab / @GTSciences, @SCDNR, @SCaquarium, and @Robinson_Eng ! cos.gatech.edu/maryville-mar…
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So proud of @autpeterson for representing @GTSciences and @GaTechMicrobes at the ABRCMS conference! To any prospective grad students reading this, I’m happy to tell you more about opportunities at both @QBioS_GT and in Biology. Just ping me here or via email.
Last week, I attended the 2022 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Students. There, I represented the School of Biological Sciences and @GTMicrobes at Georgia Tech as an exhibitor to promote our programs to prospective graduate students. #ABRCMS2022
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From northern Minnesota to coastal Georgia, wetlands are essential. Building on work w/@ORNL, Joel Kostka's team @GeorgiaTech is studying microbes' roles in salt marshes to understand how climate change will affect soils & plants that store carbon: cos.gatech.edu/news/joel-kos…
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Postdoc opening to join our @ORNLBio_Env team working on the #SPRUCE project! jobs.ornl.gov/job-invite/636…
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Little is known of how plant/microbe interactions regulate coastal ecosystems. @KostkaLab of @GeorgiaTech looks at the carbon/nitrogen exchange that govern interactions in Spartina alterniflora — a dominant plant along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Coast. #2023FICUS (7/13)
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We just released this preprint exploring the trajectory of salt marsh dieback events in South Carolina and Louisiana, USA. We found that extreme climatic events, which are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change, triggered dieback events
Severe drought events trigger long-term salt marsh dieback in the Southeastern and Gulf of Mexico USA biorxiv.org/cgi/content/shor… #bioRxiv
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