GERMS Mission
We are changing the environment that we live in, and we must understand and manage the impacts of our global change. Scientific research must inform these decisions and policy. Leveraging our interdisciplinary expertise, our mission is to understand complex biological systems in agriculture, health, and engineering to guide sustainable management solutions for our society.
GERMS Vision
Our vision is to develop cutting edge approaches that can be used to effectively measure complex interactions and dynamics of microbial communities that impact our lives. The output of our research will allow us to quantify biological activity in the environment, enabling the monitoring, prediction, and management of their beneficial and harmful impacts.
GERMS Philosophy
The GERMS lab believes in the significance of research with impact, the immense value of interdisciplinary collaborations, and the importance of data-driven open science. We embrace the joy of loving our jobs and the betterment of society.
We are a part of Iowa State University and the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department. We are also affiliated with ISU Environmental Science, Interdepartmental Microbiology Program, and Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.
We are currently supported by the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Center; the U.S. Department of Energy; the National Science Foundation; and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.