News

Spring 2024

It’s been a busy semester! Here are some highlights from the last few months:

  • May: Gaurav’s first paper from LSU was published at the American Journal of Botany. This paper provides an overview of the mathematical frameworks that empirical researchers can use to quantify how microbes shape plant coexistence. Read the paper here 📝

  • April: We’re thrilled that Rachana Rao will be joining us this Fall as a PhD student! While she waits for grad school to start, Rachana has also started a new field experiment on the role of soil microbes in mediating seedling dynamics at the interface between coffee plantations and natural forests 🌱

  • April: Gaurav visited Archbold Biological Station as a Distinguished Seminar Speaker. Thank you Aaron for the invitation, and hope to visit you again before too long 🔥

archbold biological station
  • March: Richard and Gaurav conducted the first round of soil sampling to start experimenting on plants native to Louisiana. Ultimately we decided to shelve the experiment for now, but collecting the soil provided an opportunity for Richard to practice the protocols 🍀
archbold biological station

Fall 2023

Click here to read about our exciting first semester at LSU!

December:

  • Welcome to Ameya Kherde, who is joining the lab as our first remote internship student! Over the coming month, Ameya will be learning how to process microbiome sequencing data.

  • Congrats to all lab members for completing a busy and eventful semester! We are looking forward to moving into our new (permanent) lab space in LSA 363 next semester, to welcome a few more undergrad researchers, and to get going with some fun new science!

November:

  • Big congrats to Dr. Richard Ita on his official PhD conferral from the University of Uyo! 🎉 We’ll have to call him Dr. Dr. by the end of his time at LSU

  • New paper published from the REC network, with whom Gaurav has had the pleasure of working over the past few years (including the Fall Think Tank event this month!) 📝.

  • Thanks to various collaborators, Gaurav has also been a part of four other manuscript submissions this month, making this a busy and exciting time. Can’t wait to share the results with everyone!

September:

August:

  • Gaurav and Richard moved to Baton Rouge and are eager to set up the lab at LSU 🌱