The Poulin lab is a young group of multidisciplinary researchers in the Environmental Toxicology Department at UC Davis. Our research focuses on understanding and addressing issues of metal contaminants in man-made and natural environments.

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) refers to the production of plants in enclosed spaces including greenhouse, indoor farming systems. CEA systems allow stable control of the plant environment including temperature, light, and CO₂.

We study the phylogeny, evolution, and taxonomy of angiosperms and the relationships and direct interactions between people and culturally significant plants. Our goals are to discover patterns of diversity across time and space and apply what we learn to enhance understanding of the origins of flowering plant diversity, construct and revise meaningful classifications, elucidate the effects of human activities on plant evolution, and inform efforts to conserve biological diversity and traditional knowledge.

Research in the Marco lab examines the roles of microorganisms in determining food safety, food quality, and gut health. A common thread to our research is the investigation of the ecology and host-microbe interactions of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in food systems and the mammalian digestive tract. The broad objective of our studies is to identify the attributes of microorganisms that can be used to guide improvements in food production to benefit human health.