lab members

We are an interdisciplinary microbial ecology lab integrating fieldwork, molecular biology, analytical chemistry, computational biology, and ecological theory

Alex studies how microbial genetic and chemical traits shape community assembly across environmental microbiomes. He trained at UCLA, UC Irvine, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography before joining SMU, where he is an Assistant Professor in Earth Sciences and affiliate faculty in Data Science and Drug Discovery.

Alexander Chase

Principal Investigator

Ammara is a departmental staff member co-supervised by Prof. Douglas LaRowe. She brings expertise in natural product discovery, metabolic engineering, CRISPR, synthetic biology, GC/MS, HPLC, bioprocessing, and biosensor development, with prior training at RIKEN Japan and Iowa State University.

Ammara Khalid

Laboratory Operations Manager

Motahare is a PhD student interested in chemical ecology and metabolite-mediated interactions in environmental microbiomes. She completed her BS and MS at Alzahra University in Tehran, where she studied microplastic degradation by environmental bacteria from the Caspian Sea, and was awarded an Iran Opportunity Award to come to SMU.

Motahare Haghighatjoo

PhD Student

Kyra is an undergraduate assistant majoring in biology. She is interested in microbial ecology and microbiology and plans to pursue a PhD. Kyra was recently awarded the SMU Summer Research Internship to work on fiber degradation of Bifidobacterium isolates from the human gut microbiome.

Kyra Waterman

Undergraduate Researcher

Current and former Lab Members

Departmental home

microbial ecology meets geoscience

The Chase Lab is part of SMU’s Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, an interdisciplinary department that connects geology, geophysics, environmental science, climate science, and biogeochemistry.

This setting places microbial ecology within a broader Earth-system framework. Our lab contributes to this mission by studying how microbiomes shape carbon cycling, chemical ecology, methane dynamics, and environmental function.

Geology

Field-based Earth science, sedimentary systems, geochemistry, Earth history, and the physical environments that structure microbial habitats.

Geophysics

Quantitative approaches to Earth processes, including seismology, remote sensing, subsurface structure, geohazards, and planetary dynamics.

Environmental science

Climate change, biogeochemistry, water and soil systems, resource sustainability, and the environmental processes shaping a changing planet.

climate science geohazards biogeochemistry Earth systems environmental change

COLLABORATE

​Interested in collaborating on microbial ecology or metagenomics? Contact me to discuss potential partnerships or student opportunities at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Jennifer Martiny - UC Irvine [link]
Paul Jensen - Scripps Institution of Oceanography [link]

Steve Allison - UC Irvine [link]
Eoin Brodie - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory [link]
Ulas Karaoz - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory [link] 
April Lukowski - UC San Diego [link]
Adam Martiny - UC Irvine [link]
Bradley Moore - Scripps Institution of Oceanography [link]
Martin Polz - University of Vienna, formerly MIT [link]
Alejandra Rodriguez-Verdugo - UC Irvine [link]
Kathleen Smits - Southern Methodist University [link]
Katrine Whiteson - UC Irvine [link]