Because of my affinity for gastropods and data analysis, I was recruited by a student (Parker Smith) and another faculty member (Sarah Boomer) to help investigate the gut bacteria of snails and slugs. Our first project was examining how the gut microbiome in a garden snail recovered from antibiotic treatments. The second project looked at the variation in the gut microbiome of banana slugs across seasons. My expertise is not microbiology, so I suggest checking out the papers below for more information because the actual microbiologists did most of the writing!

Peer-reviewed Publications

Boomer SM, Baltzley MJ, Dutton BD, Smith PN. 2024. The faecal microbiome of the Pacific banana slug, Ariolimax columbianus, displays seasonal variation. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 90 (2): eyae007. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyae007

Smith PN, Boomer SM, Baltzley MJ. 2019. Fecal microbiota dynamics in Cornu aspersum during dietary changes and antibiotic challenge. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 85 (3): 327-335. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyz016 PDF