Postdoctoral Research Associate

Email: zac.cooper@uga.edu

I’m originally from Georgia, and I earned my BS in Biology from UGA. Go dawgs! UGA is where I first began to gain experience and enthusiasm in molecular microbiology research while working with genetically engineered microbes. Following my undergraduate degree, I earned an MS and PhD in Oceanography and Astrobiology at the University of Washington where I conducted research on the evolution and ecology of Bacteria inhabiting extremely cold and hypersaline marine environments using laboratory microbiology and environmental genomics. Now, as a postdoctoral researcher in the Moran Lab, I am using a suite of ‘omics techniques coupled with laboratory biochemical measurements to gain a deeper understanding of bacterial carbon utilization and physiology in the surface ocean. In my free time, I enjoy biking, hiking, and being out on the water, and I also enjoy any chance to play board games, go to pub trivia, or read a good book. I’m always thinking about the microbes that run this planet.