Staff Profile

Joe combines his expertise in microbial biotechnologies with a background in software development to bridge fundamental ecological theory with practical waste treatment applications. He is a senior research associate working with Tom Curtis, continuing a long-standing collaboration that began during his time as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow.

Joe holds a PhD in Civil Engineering with a biotechnology minor and an MS in Environmental Engineering, both from North Carolina State University. He also earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. Before transitioning to research, Joe spent nearly a decade as a software developer, primarily focused on writing bespoke hardware simulators.

His current research interests include the Type VI Secretion System (bacterial "toxic harpoons"), microbial community assembly, the development of novel cell-free biosensors, and advancing research through system emulation and Bayesian-based iterative experimental designs. The overall goal is to not only develop novel ways to solve environmental problems, but deliver them from the lab to the real world more rapidly.