Microbiology
Investigating the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment and the stressors that may contribute to the expression of these genes may give us clues about increased virulence in stressful environments, such as drought, floods, and heat, such like the stressful environments of changing climates.
Plants grown in high stress situations such as drought exhibit apoplastic changes rendering them more susceptible to invasion by human pathogens. By looking at ROS production, we hope to characterize these apoplastic changes in stress, and their relation to the plant’s colonization by human pathogens.
Discipline Based Education Research
With the increase in the use of large language models in higher education, we are investigating how certain technologies impact science education, science understanding, and science perceptions. These investigations include student use of generative AI models such as ChatGPT during coursework, how this impacts their understanding of microbiology, and determine if there is a way to outline best practices for use within a microbiology course.
We are looking at measuring microbiology literacy by developing a survey instrument to measure microbiology literacy, and using this to examine the efficacy of online labs with respect to student performance, attitudes, and skills in online, hybrid, and in-person microbiology classes