Jason Andras is interested in the ecological and evolutionary interactions between animals and their microbial symbionts. His previous research has explored these themes in deep-sea hydrothermal vent and coral reef communities. His current research focuses primarily on the coevolution between freshwater zooplankton of the genus Daphnia and one of their highly specific bacterial parasites, Pasteuria ramosa.
Kate Ballantine and Rachel Rubin (Environmental Studies) and Jason Andras (Biology) received a grant from the Restore America's Estuaries: Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed Grants for their project " Bioreactors for Enhanced Nitrogen Removal in Coastal Cranberry Farms." The project is for two years and four months.
Rubin, R., K. Ballantine, A. Hegberg*, and J. Andras. 2022. Flooding and ecological restoration promote wetland microbial communities and soil functions on former cranberry farmland. PLoS ONE 16(12): e0260933.
Andras, J. P., Rodriguez-Reillo, W. G., Truchon, A., Blanchard, J. L., Pierce, E. A., & Ballantine, K. A. (2020). Rewilding the small stuff: The effect of ecological restoration on prokaryotic communities of peatland soils. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. doi:10.1093/femsec/fiaa144
Andras, J. P., Fields, P., Du Pasquier, L. D., Fredericksen, M., & Ebert, D. (2020). Genome-wide association analysis identifies a genetic basis of infectivity in a model bacterial pathogen. Molecular Biology and Evolution. doi:10.1093/molbev/msaa173
Andras, J.P., Hollis, K.L., Carter, K.A. [MHC '17], Couldwell, G. [MHC '16] & Nowbahari, E. (2020). Analysis of ants’ rescue behavior reveals heritable specialization for first responders. Journal of Experimental Biology, 223: jeb212530.