Kyra Keenan

Research Areas: Microbial community dynamics, soil bacteria, nitrogen fixation, space biotechnology

I am a second year Ph.D. student focusing on studying plant-growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) in terrestrial and space systems. My research project supports the development of rationally assembled microbial communities to overcome agricultural challenges associated with climate change and long-term space habitation. I aim to engineer helper strains to tolerate and decontaminate toxic salts (i.e. perchlorates) in poor soils and Martian regolith and elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which native helper strains enhance productivity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Beyond the lab, I am usually doing something outside – trail running, gravel biking, skiing, or rock climbing. On a rainy or frigid day I can be found reading science-fiction, tending to my (many) houseplants, or doing pottery.

My favorite uncommon and underused punctuation mark is the snark mark, or colloquially the “snark,” which is denoted as ⸮ or .~. The snark is used for conveying irony and sarcasm where it might otherwise be overlooked – or not.