Research Interests

My research interests in the lab are focused on bacterial strains that form communities in the environments where they survive and thrive. These communities include a study of violacien producing aquatic bacteria in the local watershed, as well as a project delving into Mycobacterium intercelluare samples as problematic NTM pathogens. All of these interests are multifaceted, combining techniques from microbial physiology, genetics, microscopy and ecology.

Discovery of violacein producing strains

Our lab group is currently examining the properties and prevalence of bacterial cells capable of producing the small indole based molecule violacein. Projects involving water collection, amphibian swabbing, bacterial physiological screening, genomic sequencing, and transposon mutagenesis based screens are ongoing.

We are also currently active in local outreach projects focused on teaching about water collection to area students. Participants are taught how to collect water samples, gather meta data, and plate water on growth media. Water samples and colonies are transferred to the Jude lab and followed up for stocking and further analysis. If you are interested in getting involved with this study, contact Professor Jude today!

Microbial Textile Dying

In work supported by One Earth and Daughter's For Earth, we have started a project with ATW80F, the Artisan Project, and the Microbe Institute to investigate microbes as natural textile dyes. This has led to connections with the Ain Leuh Women's Cooperative of weavers, as well as connections with Drs. Hassan Ghazal, Said Barrijal, and Rfaki Abderrazak in Morocco. See this Story Map for project details!

This work has been featured in The Scientist, in a piece written by Laura Tran, here: In search for Microbes that weave colors into Moroccan Carpets (www.the-scientist.com/in-search-of-microbes-that-weave-colors-into-moroccan-carpets-72224)