Batstone Lab
We are all just islands in a microbial sea
The recent rise in microbiome research has shown that symbiotic microbes are not just everywhere - they often play vital functions in the lives of their ‘macrobial’ hosts. Yet, we lack a general understanding of how microbes themselves evolve, and how such evolution feeds back to affect host health. The Batstone Lab combines experimental evolution with various genomic techniques to study how mutualistic microbes adapt to hosts, to understand how changing abiotic conditions modulate such adaptation, and to identify the genomic mechanisms underlying symbiosis evolution.
Contact Info
Rebecca Batstone, PhD
Assistant Professor
McMaster University, Department Of Biology
Email: batstonr@mcmaster.ca
The Lab (2022)
Join The Lab
If you are interested in joining my lab for the fall of 2023 (or thereafter) as a graduate student, please send me an email that includes your CV and a brief description about your past research experience. If interested in joining as an undergrad, prior research experience is not required. However, for both prospective undergrad and grad students, include a few sentences about why you’re interested in joining this lab specifically.
Here’s a great resource Opens in new window authored by Dr. Lily Khadempour that outlines what to include in this initial email.
More info for prospective undergraduates:
Available positions include both Work-Study (paid) and independent research projects with course credit (see course outlines Opens in new window page for specific course codes corresponding to 3rd and 4th year independent research projects and theses). IMPORTANT: there will be a Biology Thesis/Research Info Night on Thursday, October 20 (see poster opens in new window), which will provide an overview of the kinds of research being conducted in the department and how to get involved.
More info for prospective graduate students:
You can apply for either a Masters or PhD (if you’ve already obtained a Masters) through the School of Graduate Studies. Opens in new window Note that if you’d like to start in the fall 2023, you’d need to apply by May 31st (domestic) or January 31st (international), but other entry dates are possible.