Britt Koskella is a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and an evolutionary ecologist specializing in host-pathogen relationships. Her research focuses on the “microbiome”—the community of bacteria and viruses that live on and in other organisms—and how these tiny communities affect plant health, evolution, and ecology. Koskella’s work combines observational studies of microbial communities in natural settings with controlled experimental evolution in the lab and greenhouse. Her goal is to understand how species interactions, particularly between hosts and pathogens, shape the genetic diversity found in nature.

A key part of her research is exploring the role of bacteriophage viruses—viruses that infect and kill bacteria. She investigates how these viruses influence bacterial evolution and the diversity of the microbiome. Her studies on plants, including long-lived trees and agriculturally important crops like tomatoes and pear trees, aim to understand how the plant microbiome is established and functions, and how it protects against disease and environmental stress. This work has potential implications for agricultural sustainability, suggesting that managing the plant microbiome with probiotics or other practices could lead to healthier crops with less reliance on fertilizers and pesticides.

Google scholar profile with up to date publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CQ_6m_oAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao