Research Interests

Microbiomes, Ecology, Evolution, Genomics, Bioinformatics

Microbiome research is one the most exciting areas of science today. Our laboratory’s long-term research goal is to contribute to the understanding of forest microbial communities and their response to climate change. We particularly enjoy discovering new forest microbes in the Pioneer Valley, North Quabbin Woods and at our research sites at the Harvard Forest. Our fundamental revelations into how microbes work together to decompose forest leaf litter and cycle nutrients has led to applied applications in biofuels, probiotics and biotechnology.

Representative Publications

See our laboratory publications page - http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/blanchard/node/3