I grew up in Massachusetts and have always enjoyed learning about wildlife and species interactions in nature. These interests brought me to become a Biology major in undergrad, and to obtain a Master’s study parasite taxonomy and systematics. My research focus is parasite-microbiome interactions, and I’m planning to work in both wild and captive systems to better understand how parasite infection affects the host through gut microbial community disturbance. In my free time, I like to play recreational sports, cook, and relax with some of Kelly Kerr’s homebrew!
Mammalian herbivores face daily challenges to efficient digestion and rely on their gut microbiomes to survive. The gut microbiome is exclusively responsible for the essential functions of dietary fiber fermentation and degradation of common toxic plant secondary compounds (PSCs). Therefore, changes in microbiome composition could have major negative impacts on digestive function. Parasites in the gut have repeatedly been shown to decrease host gut microbial diversity, but there has been little investigation of functional changes associated with these decreases. We investigated gut microbiome diversity and function of wild, herbivorous white-throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula) with and without parasites to understand associations between parasitism and the herbivorous gut microbiome. Woodrats were captured in Castle Valley, UT and screened for parasites using fecal flotation. For four days, animals were held in metabolic cages and fed their natural diet of Opuntia cactus, which is rich in dietary fiber and the microbially-degraded PSC oxalate. We inventoried the microbiome by sequencing 16S rDNA from feces after four days of cactus feeding. We quantified dry matter digestion and oxalate degradation to directly measure microbiome functions. Data were examined in context of parasite infection status to determine if there were differences between parasitized and parasite-free animals