Research in the Meyer lab lies at the intersection of microbial ecology and bioinformatics and seeks to answer fundamental questions about the structuring of microbial communities and the impact of microbiomes on ecosystem functions. Our current research focuses on understanding the microbial communities underpinning Florida and Caribbean habitats in need of conservation and/or restoration such as seagrass beds and coral reefs.
Our current projects include investigating stony coral tissue loss disease, developing probiotic treatments for corals with stony coral tissue loss disease, comparative genomics of bacteria associated with healthy corals, investigating changes in coral microbiomes under hypoxia, and using model anemones to investigate microbiome changes under multiple stresssors.
Healthy Orbicella faveolata colony in Belize 
Montastraea cavernosa with stony coral tissue loss disease, Broward County, FL 
Orbicella annularis with black band disease in Belize 
Collecting microbiome samples from Meandrina meandrites in Little Cayman 
A cheeky damselfish oversees our work with Acropora cervicornis, Belize 
Ocean nursery-reared Acropora cervicornis corals ready to be outplanted on the reef in Little Cayman 
Exapstasia pallida anemones in a lab aquarium 
Thalassia seagrass bed, Seahorse Key National Wildlife Refuge
MeyerMicrobes 