Welcome to the Clay Lab at Tulane University! Research in the lab is wide-ranging with a focus on interspecific interactions and how microbial symbioses and disease affect dynamics of ecological communities. Recent research has revealed unsuspected microbial diversity and evidence for its central role in many key biological processes. Keith Clay is also the Chair of the Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (https://sse.tulane.edu/eebio).
Major areas of interest in the lab include:

• Hereditary symbiosis and host protection from pests and pathogens
• The role of microbial interactions in biological invasions
• Vector-borne disease
• Ecology of the Gulf Coast

Our research involves laboratory and greenhouse work, in addition to field work along the Gulf Coast and Chesapeake Bay, the Midwest, Panama and Ecuador.