Assistant Professor, Biology
McMaster University
Preferred pronouns: she/her/hers
I’m fascinated by the concept that we, humans, contain many fold more microbial cells than human cells. And that DNA in microbes can have profound impacts on their hosts. I like to use experimental approaches in combination with sequencing to understand how variation in microbial DNA contributes to variation in host traits.
Fun Fact: I have a dog named Roo who loves to run. In fact, I cannot keep up with her even when I am biking next to her, she’s insanely fast!
🍀BIO1M03 – Evolution, Biodiversity, and Humanity (Winter terms) [link to course outline W24]
🍀 MOLBIOL 4CT3 – Current Topics in Molecular Biology (Fall terms) [link to course outline F23]
🍀Using experimental evolution to determine the selective drivers and genomic mechanisms of microbial adaptation to nitrogen amendment in soil [2 manuscripts, forthcoming]
🍀Infection genomics: synthesizing concepts across diverse fields to better understand the infectious nature of life [1 manuscript, forthcoming]
Batstone, RT; Harrison, TL; O'Brien, AM; Frederickson, ME. Science
Batstone, RT. New Phytologist
Batstone, RT; Ibrahim, A; MacLean, LT. Current Biology
Batstone, RT; Burghardt, LT; Heath, KD. Proc. Roy. Soc. B