Emily Green, PhD candidate
Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program
Department of Environment
Duke University
Description: Animals have evolved in environments abundant with microorganisms, resulting in deeply integrated host-microbe interactions that profoundly shape development, physiology, and survival. However, our understanding of these interactions is largely derived from post-embryonic, free-living life stages, when organisms are in direct contact with microbes. Whether environmental microbial communities influence embryogenesis, particularly in oviparous organisms where embryos are encased in a protective chorion, remains poorly understood. Moreover, because embryogenesis represents a highly sensitive developmental window during which environmental perturbations, including chemical pollutants, can alter developmental outcomes, it remains unclear whether microbial-driven modulation of early development contributes to long-term environmental resilience or adaptation. By addressing these questions across multiple biological scales, from molecular signaling and physiological function, to population-level responses, my research demonstrates that host-microbe interactions play a critical role during early vertebrate development by shaping developmental, metabolic, and xenobiotic response pathways that enhance resilience to chemical stress. My results further reveal that these effects contribute to population-level adaptation, providing a mechanistic framework for understanding how host-microbiome interactions shape ecological fitness and evolutionary trajectories of vertebrates living in microbially dynamic natural habitats.
About the speaker: Emily is a 5th year PhD candidate in the Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program at Duke University in Dr. Nishad Jayasundara’s lab. After receiving dual B.S. degrees in Biology and Marine Science from the University of Miami in 2020, she developed an interest in environmental toxicology and pursued an ORISE Fellowship at the US EPA. There, she investigated chemical mixture interactions using in vitro bioassays and mathematical modeling. Her doctoral research bridges developmental toxicology and environmental microbiology, exploring how the microbiome influences embryonic development and modulates responses to chemical exposures using lab-reared zebrafish. In parallel, she studies wild Atlantic killifish populations with distinct pollution adaptation histories to understand how host-microbiome interactions shape evolutionary responses to environmental stressors. Next, she hopes to continue advancing mechanistic understanding of host-microbiome interactions and translating insights into solutions that promote environmental and human health.
Thursday, February 5, 2026
Field Auditorium, Room 1112, Grainger Hall (9 Circuit Drive, Durham, NC)
This seminar will also be presented live via Panopto. Click HERE for the livestream.