Dr. Christofides completed her NERC-funded PhD in 2017, researching fungal-prokaryote interactions in decomposing wood, under the supervision of Professors Andy Weightman and Lynne Boddy. Despite the importance of wood-decay fungi in decomposition, surprisingly little is known about their interactions with the bacteria also ubiquitous in wood. We are currently researching the prokaryotic community in dead wood and its relationship with wood-decay fungi, using field experiments and a variety of molecular approaches such as 16S/ITS2 amplicon sequencing and qPCR.

She studied for her undergraduate degree at Cardiff, graduating with BSc Ecology in 2012; for her final year dissertation she researched freshwater bryophyte-invertebrate interactions, in Professor Steve Ormerod’s group. Christofides was one of the British Ecological Society’s Undergraduate Fellows in 2012-13. In addition to research, she’s also very interested in scientific communication, public engagement and education; and in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the relationship between science and Christianity.

@ecologysarah
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