Agricultural and Life Sciences (IFAS)
Foster Lab
Led by Jamie Foster · Microbiology and Cell Science
What we study
The Foster Lab studies how microbes interact with their environments, focusing on space biology and microbial communities. They use model systems like squid and bacteria to explore how microgravity and lunar stressors affect these interactions.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Bacteria & microbes
- Marine organisms
- Projects
- 3
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Effects of microgravity and Lunar stressors on animal-bacterial symbioses
Researching how spaceflight impacts beneficial interactions between microbes and animals using squid and bacteria.
In situ resource utilization for space biomanufacturing using microbes
Developing biological tools to extract materials from lunar regolith for space missions.
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Understanding the microbiome of modern microbialites
Studying microbial ecosystems that form calcium carbonate structures to learn about early Earth life.
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Beneficial microbes mitigate molecular stress responses and accelerate developmental pathways in host animals during spaceflight
2026 · Frontiers in Space Technologies
Shows that beneficial bacteria help squids cope with spaceflight stress.
- Using magnetic nanoparticles to explore symbiotic interactions
2026 · Scientific Reports
Uses magnetic nanoparticles to track immune responses in a squid-bacteria symbiosis.
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- Enhanced Pro-Osteogenic Regulatory Modulation in Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from the Periosteum Under Simulated Microgravity
2026 · Cells
Finds that periosteum-derived stem cells adapt better to simulated microgravity.
- Strategies, Research Priorities, and Challenges for the Exploration of Space Beyond Low Earth Orbit
2024 · Gravitational and Space Research
Identifies research priorities and challenges for exploring space beyond low Earth orbit.
- Impact of modeled microgravity stress on innate immunity in a beneficial animal-microbe symbiosis
2024 · Scientific Reports
Finds that microgravity affects the innate immune response in a squid-bacteria symbiosis.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Jamie Foster hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.