Britt Koskella is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator. She received her PhD in 2008 from the department of Biology at Indiana University, and then did her postdoctoral work (first as an NSF International Research Fellow, then as a UK NERC Research Fellow) at Oxford University, UC Santa Cruz, and then the University of Exeter. She joined UC Berkeley in 2015.

Tiffany Batarseh joined the lab in 2022 as an NSF Postdoctoral fellow from the Gaut lab at UC Irvine. Tiffany has a background in microbial evolution and adaptation using experimental and bioinformatic tools. Tiffany joined the Koskella lab to work on the evolution and ecology of microbial communities associated with the phyllosphere.

Milo Johnson joined the lab in 2022 as an NSF Postdoctoral fellow from the Desai lab at Harvard. He is collaborating with Drs. Adam Arkin and Adam Deutschbauer on a project exploring the ecology and evolution of Erwinia tracheiphila, a pathogen of cucurbits. He plans to use DNA barcoding technologies to observe both population dynamics and evolutionary processes over the course of infection.

Asa Conover is a Curci Fellow and Philomathia Fellow studying microbial interactions and microbiome function. He aims to leverage knowledge of natural history to identify understudied organisms that open doors for critical questions. Asa’s research utilizes the carnivorous California pitcher plant to test strategies of manipulating microbiomes for organismal health.

Darian Doakes is a PhD student in the Plant and Microbial Biology program co-advised by Prof Mike Boots. Darian started in 2022 and is interested in adaptive fitness of horizontal gene transfer in bacterial communities. Darian’s research focuses on dynamics of mobile genetic elements such as bacteriophage.

Bri Baumbach is a PhD student, NSF GRFP fellow, and Chancellor’s fellow co-advised by Dr. Klara Scharnagl. Bri is fascinated by how symbiotic relationships in lichens and plant microbiomes form, break down, and shape adaptation. Inspired by an appreciation for natural history, Bri’s research explores how these interactions influence biodiversity and resilience under environmental stress.

Niko Darci-Maher is a PhD student and Berkeley Fellow who is puzzled and excited about the evolution of nutrient-sharing symbiotic relationships. He uses genomics tools to study these interactions in plant microbiomes and lichens, especially those that live in stressful environments like serpentine soil. More musings on his website here!

Cierra Ord received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine where she studied the dissemination mechanisms and evolution of antibiotic resistance within environmental Gram-negative bacteria. Now she’s a Microbiology PhD student at UCB interested in coevolutionary dynamics of bacteria and their viral predators.

Izaac Wilkinson received a B.S. (Cum Laude) in 2023 from Howard University and joined the lab in 2025 as a junior specialist/lab manager working on the Pear Project. He has now (2026) begun his adventure as a graduate student in the department of Integrative Biology, co-advised by Prof Charles Marshall. Izaac is fascinated in the Great Oxidation Event and the role bacteriophages may have played in the origins of life.

Fiona Joy Wagner joined the lab in 2023 as an undergraduate working on tomato seedling phyllosphere micobiome evolution, and is currently a lab manager. She is fascinated in the evolution and interactions between microbial communities.

Lauren Holland joined the lab in 2023 and is currently a post-bacc. She studies the successional microbiomes of the California Pitcher Plant (Darlingtonia californica), as well as a novel plant pathogen inflicting this carnivorous species. Her passions lie in searching for the many ways in which everything remains connected. She finds joy in pondering the complex webs of entwinement between organisms and the ecosystems they collectively forge.

Thien Vu joined the lab in 2025 as a post-baccalaureate scholar through the RaMP program. She is broadly interested in the role of evolution in shaping microbial diversity. Her current work focuses on horizontal gene transfer. She is now transitioning to evolution experiments with mobile genetic elements

Bonnie Chan is a third-year undergraduate student studying Microbial Biology. Under Darian Doakes’s mentorship, Bonnie is eager to explore the induction properties of bacteriophages and their roles in microbial ecology.

Kohana Henson is a second-year student at UC Berkeley studying Molecular Environmental Biology and Integrative Biology. Kohana is curious about the hidden relationships between organisms and their environments. Through lab research, Kohana is excited to explore the tiny world of Azolla and uncover how different nutrient environments shape & influence the intricate relationship with its microbiome.

JiaXuan Liao is a sophomore majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology and Neuroscience. She is a member of the Azolla team, studying how the aquatic fern and its microbiome coevolve under varying nutrient conditions. JiaXuan is drawn to the invisible world of microorganisms and strives to understand how host-microbiome relationships evolve and shift in response to their environment, with the hope of one day using microbial communities to treat diseases.

Chuyu Wang joined the lab in 2025 as a junior majoring in molecular environmental biology. She is participating in the project using tomato plants to study the protective role of phages against pathogens. She aims to explore the regulatory effects and interactions of phages on plant-associated microbes, seeking ways to protect ecosystems using microbiological techniques.

Fion Wu is a third-year student at UC Berkeley studying Microbial Biology and Data Science. Fion works with Darian in the Koskella Lab, where she studies phage–bacteria interactions, prophage induction, and microbial community dynamics. Fion is especially interested in integrating phage–host dynamics with synthetic biology frameworks to better understand and design microbial interactions at the genetic level.