Speare Lab
Marine Microbial Ecology
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Welcome to the Speare Marine Microbial Ecology Lab!
Our research explores how microbial interactions impact microbiome dynamics and function in free-living and host-associated communities. We aim to understand the ecology and evolution of microbial cooperation, competition, predation, and parasitism across hierarchical levels from cell-cell interactions to ecosystem health. We employ classical genetics and microscopy techniques with 'omics data to connect molecular mechanisms to in vivo observations. The Speare Lab is based in the School of Biological Sciences and Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection (CMDI) at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia.
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In this lab we believe
Lab updates
Athena & Lauren inoculating a coral frag
Georgia Tech 2026
View from Gump Station
Mo'orea, French Polynesia 2026
Rowan stocking down freshly isolated marine bacteria
Georgia Tech, 2026
Chloe welcoming our new crop of Caribbean Acropora corals to the Microbial Manipulation Lab
Georgia Tech, 2025
Macey's newest batch of predatory bacterial plaques
Georgia Tech, 2025
Lauren & Kelly showing off an Orbicella colony prior to microfragmentation
USVI, 2025
Kelly admiring the view of Coki Point from CWORI
USVI, 2025
Shallot the island kitty
USVI, 2025
Kelly playing with her dinner
Miami, 2025
Lauren & collaborator
Dr. Stephanie Rosales dosing a coral with a pathogen culture
University of Miami, 2025
Kelly, Lauren, Athena, & Chloe at Microbe ATL
Atlanta, 2025
Chloe, Lauren, & Kelly smiling because they made their favorite corals sick
University of Miami, 2025
Speare Lab elevator selfie
Georgia Tech, 2025
Chloe & Kelly setting up a "field" microbiology lab
University of Miami, 2025