Meet the NMDC Champions
NMDC Champions understand and appreciate the value of well-curated data, and are willing to advocate for the importance of FAIR microbiome data. Learn more about the Champions Program.
Featured NMDC Champions
Jason Rothman is a Hewitt Biomedical Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Irvine. He received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of California, Riverside and has studied microbial communities associated with a variety of environments – from insects, to humans, and wastewater. Jason uses a variety of omics methods, including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metabolomics, to understand the tripartite interactions between hosts, microbes, and the environment. His most recent research has been focused on leveraging metatranscriptomics on wastewater to find novel SARS-CoV-2 variants during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Buck Hanson has extensive experience in applying single-cell techniques to exploring microbial community composition and function in complex systems. With a strong background in working with in situ experimental systems, Buck’s work emphasizes the necessity to understand microbial activities in their natural habitats. His research experiences range from working with contaminated soil, groundwater, and the mammalian gut, and has particularly centered on applying stable isotope probing and fluorescence imaging approaches to characterize active microbial populations using metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics.
Jessica Audrey Lee is a microbiologist with eclectic interests. In the past, she has studied microbial community diversity in estuaries, deserts, soils, and food; designed communities in the lab; and studied physiology in single cells. At NASA, she works to understand how life from Earth interacts with space environments–which includes the dynamics of microbial communities on spacecraft, the effects of space conditions on microbial biology, and the use of microbes to sustain human life. And wherever Jessica is, she loves teaching about microbes and microbial diversity.
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