Speare Lab
Marine Microbial Ecology
RESEARCH PROJECTS:
Ruth D. Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grants: A Novel Approach to Enhance Acropora cervicornis Survivorship in Restoration Initiatives
In collaboration with Dr. Stephanie Rosales at the University of Miami and NOAA, this project aims to develop antibiotic-independent treatments for coral diseases by leveraging interbacterial interactions already occurring within coral tissue. Using manipulative tank experiments, microbial inoculations, and 16S rRNA gene analysis, we are exploring biological agents as tools to treat bacterially-induced disease in Caribbean Acroporid corals. Lab members include Kelly Lumpkin and Chloe Manley.
Friend & Foe: the Endozoicomonas-coral symbiosis
This work investigates the role of a ubiquitous and putatively beneficial bacterial genus, Endozoicomonas, in the coral holobiont. Endozoicomonas are considered an indicator of coral health, however this relationship appears to be more complex than a simple beneficial symbiosis. In collaboration with Dr. Hannah Epstein at the University of Essex and Dr. Jesse Zaneveld at the University of Washington Bothell, this project aims to disentangle the benefits and limitations of this symbiosis and predict its impact on coral fitness in the face of climate change. Lab members include Priya Master and Chloe Manley.
Macro- & Microscale drivers of Coral Reef Resilience in a Changing Climate
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In collaboration with Dr. Isaiah Bolden and support from the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute and Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, this project aims to understand drivers of coral reef resilience. By leveraging carbonate chemistry and microbiome composition of coral reef calcifiers - stony corals and crustose coralline algae - this work aims to develop chemical and biological assessments of reef stability, risk of disease and regeneration potential to predict overall reef resilience. Lab members include Chloe Manley.
Eco-Evo processes of marine microbial predators
Microbial predators function as top-down regulators of both free-living and eukaryotic microbiomes, yet how these microbes adapt and evolve in respond to fluctuations in their environment remains less clear. This project investigates the evolution of microbial predators under different selective pressures in vitro to better understand their role within complex communities in vivo. Lab members include Dr. Macey Coppinger.
