Jeremy Rich, Ph.D.

Description:

I am a microbial ecologist who addresses fundamental questions about the structure and function of microbial communities in marine ecosystems. During my Ph.D. at Oregon State University, I developed molecular methods to determine the diversity of denitrifying bacteria in terrestrial systems and relate their diversity to ecosystem functioning. As an NSF postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, I switched to marine systems and applied stable isotope techniques to measure rates of denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). My current research – which is focused on novel experimental approaches in microbial ecology – leverages my training in both molecular and biogeochemical approaches. I am contributing to the transformation of microbial ecology from an observationally oriented field into one grounded in theory and empirical experimentation.