Jessica’s research interests lie in microbial ecology and symbiosis, aligning with her work as a research fellow at the Case Lab - examining the interactions between Phaeobacter species and microalgal hosts, with the aim of increasing protein output from the microalgae. Jessica’s research particularly focuses on the dynamics between the two organisms in relation to the processes of protein expression, vesicle production and extracellular transport, employing transcriptomics to do so.

During her Master’s, Jessica’s research was focused on the microbial communities found in marine sponges, with an emphasis on an abundant novel lineage of betaproteobacteria. As a PhD candidate, Jessica continued her work on the microbial communities in sponges, using metagenomics to uncover the metabolic versatility of the same betaproteobacteria lineage, as well as investigating disease-prediction qualities of sponge microbial communities under environmental stress. She also used in situ metatranscriptomics to examine how sponge symbionts metabolically respond over time and to changing environmental conditions.

Read more about Jessica’s current research here.