I am a Research Scientist in the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I am a microbial ecologist with expertise in environmental genomics. My research focuses on interactions between microbial and plant communities and geochemistry in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In thawing permafrost soils we look at how changes in microbial communities and soil nutrients feedback on plant communities. We assess how changes in microbial communities affect the geochemistry and efficiency in bioreactors remediating acid mine drainage, and we are determining the efficacy of different oil degrading compounds on oil degradation as well as their effects on the indigenous microbial communities in arctic and sub-arctic seawater.