Laura Parfrey
Associate Professor, Department of Botany and Zoology at the University of British Columbia
Research in the Parfrey lab aims to understand how symbiosis shapes the ecology and evolution of microbes. Using a combination of surveys, manipulative experiments, and data synthesis, the Parfrey lab has made significant strides toward understanding the ecology and evolution of microbial communities associated with hosts ranging from kelp and seagrass to humans and gorillas. We are testing the assumption that ecological distribution data is useful in the development of probiotics, and our work highlights the central role of functional redundancy in microbial community assembly. We aim to use this knowledge to predict how changing environmental conditions will alter symbiotic relationships, and understand how these host-associated microbes impact host and ecosystem health.