Investigation of functional genomics related to persistence in low moisture foods by foodborne pathogenic bacteria.-Used fundamental microbiology techniques to enumerate dessication rates of pathogenic Shiga Toxin producing E. coli (STEC) in various flours-Customized R scripts to statistically analyze the differences in dessication rates of STEC-Developed a method to efficiently extract dessicated STEC from flour for RNA isolation-Analyzing the transcriptome changes of STEC during flour dessication -Transcriptome analysis is being completed using the Illumina NextSeq 2000 platform for RNA-seq-Building a transposon-mutant library in STEC using the TraDIS protocol-Generated mutant strains of Salmonella and E. coli using electroporation and scarless deletion protocols-Mentoring undergraduate researchers

Investigation of the colonization pattern by Vibrio parahaemolyticus (VP) in its natural host, Eastern oysters.-Developed an in-house laboratory inoculation system to study the colonization efficiency of VP-Compared VP colonization efficiency between seasons-Investigated the impact of VP virulence factors on colonization efficiency-Identifying physical relationship between VP and oyster host tissues using fluorescence- and colorimetric-based immunohistochemistry (IHC)-Developing a qPCR-based method of measuring VP loads and comparing between clinical and non-clinical VP strains-Designing an oyster intracellular VP enumeration assayStudies of the internal and external microbiomes associated with aquaculture-raised fish using the 16S rRNA marker gene and QIIME2 and R:-Studied the impact of host age and probiotic supplementation on the internal microbiomes of steelhead trout.-Studied the impact of host genetics on the adherent intestinal epithelial microbiome of Nile tilapia.-Studied the impact of supplemented selenium, a dietary antioxidant, on the intestinal epithelial- and scales-associated microbiomes of rainbow trout.-Studied the impact of partial fishmeal replacement with a yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, on the physiology and intestinal microbiome of rainbow trout.

Instructor for General Microbiology Labs (7 semesters, 12 sections)-Taught fundamental microbiological skills including aseptic technique, spread plating, and transformation.-Assigned and graded literature- and laboratory-based reports, various assignments, tests and quizzes, and techniques-based, independent projectsInstructor for Pathogenic Bacteriology Labs (1 semester, 2 sections)-Introduced diagnostic testing and pathogen identification-Similar grading as the general microbiology lab instructor; also graded classroom presentationsCo-GTA for Bioinformatic [and Advanced Bioinformatic] Methods (2 semesters, 2 sections)-Assisted with computational troubleshooting for various software (e.g., Geneious, R, and Microsoft Office)-Analyzed datasets including RNA-Seq, microarrays, and comparative genomics

-Performed work for clients’ studies including: ELISAs, DNA isolations, and enzymology assays.-Communicated with principal investigators both internal and external to the School of Nursing regarding proposed and ongoing experimentation.-Processed and maintained human sample records.

-Performed ethanol sedation assays to measure the physiological effects of various RNAi-induced genetic silencing.-Maintained various stocks of D. melanogaster.