Canada Research Chair in Applied Microbial Ecology
Most biodiversity research has focused on plants, vertebrates and arthropods. But given that microbial communities colonize and interact with macro-organisms — such as plants, humans and animals—they also potentially influence their survival and productivity. Microbial ecology is the study of the diversity, distribution and interactions of microorganisms in ecosystems. As Canada Research Chair in Applied Microbial Ecology, Professor Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe is improving our understanding of microbial ecology and the assembly of microbial communities.
She and her research team are exploring the space-time dynamics of plant-microbe interactions across cities, agricultural fields and forests. They are also manipulating plant-microbe interactions to increase host resilience to stress induced by global change and modelling these interactions by adapting ecological theories.
Chairholder
Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe
Profile
Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe is a professor in the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Science of the Université de Sherbrooke.
Fields of expertise and research
Microbiome, Microbial Ecology, Ecology, Community Ecology, Host-microbe interactions, Bioinformatics, Statistics, Phyllosphere, Rhizosphere, Bacterial community, Holobiont, Plant Ecology, Forest, Global change, Urban ecology, Climate change, Metagenomics, Ecosystem functions, Terrestrial ecosystems, Bioaerosols, Microorganisms, Bacteria, Archaea, Fungi, Prokaryotes, Micro-eukaryotes, Human microbiome, Plant microbiome, Soil microbiome, Aerobiome, Mycorrhizae
Research Relevance
By expanding our understanding of plant-microbe symbioses, this research program will improve bio-control technologies aimed at maintaining ecosystem productivity and resilience.
Funding
- Canada Research Chairs Program
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Additional Information
- Tier 2 Chair - 2025-01-01
- Renewed: 2025-04-30