Lauren F Messer

About

My primary research interests include understanding how the physical and chemical oceanic environment drives the distribution, diversity, and functional activity of marine microbes. During my PhD research, I was particularly interested in the ecology of bacterioplankton involved in nitrogen cycling processes within the Australian marine environment, as the availability (or lack thereof) of nitrogenous compounds in the ocean is one of the major factors influencing marine primary production. In my current position, I am using genome-centric metagenomics to unravel the phylogenetic diversity and functional role of bacteria and archaea within the coral holobiont. Using a model coral organism, we hope to determine microbial genomic indicators of coral health and disease.