Jacob is interested in evolution, genomics, and phylogenetics, with a particular interest in molds and yeast. More specifically, his research utilizes various ‘omics approaches to understand the evolution and function of fungal genomes. Using computational tools, he conducts analyses of species relationships, sequence evolution, and mutational variation across the fungal tree of life or populations thereof. He aims to use these and other analyses to inform the evolution and divergence of traits important to our lives such as pathogenicity of bioindustrial traits like fermentative capacity. Current projects involve wine-associated strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) and the non-conventional wine yeast genus Hanseniaspora. His past work includes analysis of the primary human and animal pathogen Cryptococcus gattii.
