"Study nature and books"

Research in the Amaral Zettler laboratory explores the relationships between microbes and the environment, focusing on mechanisms that determine microbial diversity, distribution, function, and impact on the human and natural environment. Current research objectives include understanding the environmental factors that help shape microbial community structure at the three-domain level and below. One of my long-term field sites focusing on Astrobiology research includes the acidic, heavy-metal laden Río Tinto (southwestern Spain)- a terrestrial analog for Mars. My NSF Biodiversity Survey and Inventories project called MIRADA LTERs also explores three-domain diversity, but at a much larger scale in a biogeographic study that involves Microbial Inventory Research Across 13 Diverse Aquatic LTER sites.