Want a healthy gut? We need healthy soil. New Article for ASM.

I’m a gut girl from way back, but have enjoyed researching and writing my latest piece on another field I deeply care about: environmental stewardship. Today my latest piece for the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) went live exploring the soil microbiome in an age of climate change. I am convinced through this project more than ever at the deep interconnectedness of our earth and our bodies.

I love the gut. It’s what I did my doctoral research in. I never grow tired of the connections we continually make to our health through the microbes we harbor in our intestines, I love that food is one of the most important ways to secure their health (did someone say bon appétit?), and I am continually challenged to think about the societal implications of microbes as they relate to inequity.

BUT. The truth is, we can’t have a healthy gut microbiome without a healthy soil microbiome. There is no healthy food without an ecosystem in which to grow it. Much like we exist in intimate communication with our gut microbes, plants rely on their root microbes in the soil for health and resilience. And we rely on plants to fuel a healthy, fiber-rich, immunologically tame gut. Moreover, soil itself is one of our critical carbon storage sites on earth. And yet, this precious resource is gravely threatened by advancing climate change.

To read more about the intricate science of the soil microbiome, plants and climate change, see my latest piece for the American Society for Microbiology below. I hope you enjoy and learn something new!

 

“Unearthing the Soil Microbiome, Climate Change, Carbon Storage Nexus.”

American Society for Microbioloy // May 14, 2021

Joy and health to you all,

Christy

The Latest // Microbes and Neurodegenerative Disease

Microbes have a complex and unique role in the health of our brains. On the one hand, they are intimately involved in our wellbeing from birth, and on the other, some of them can opportunistically infiltrate the central nervous system. Are they Jekyll or are they Hyde? Read more from my latest piece for the American Society for Microbiology by clicking the link below.

Microbes on the Mind: A Complex Role in Neurodegeneration

American Society for Microbiology // January 26, 2021

Have a safe and scientific Tuesday!

-C

Introduction: Why I’m here

Hey there!

I’m Christy. I’m a scientist by training but a communicator at heart. My professional background is in the immunological sciences and public health, but more specifically the way our gut microbes interact with nearly every facet of our lives. I find this fascinating, which is why I’m here to write about it! But that’s not all.

In science, we often have to be reductionist and narrow in our approach in order to be sure that what we’re seeing is reliable. This can have the unintended side effect of blinding us to what’s going on in the other research neighborhoods. But if anything, my time in different pockets of the science world has continued to convince me how deeply everything is connected, and how much I want to talk about these connections. We know, for instance, that social defeat directly impacts the immune system, or that gut microbes alter our behavior. We know that poverty sinks its fingers into our biology and tinkers with our health.

These connections are both exciting and sobering, and reveal us as societies. Data holds a mirror up to our strengths and weaknesses, and to how we care for our own. It offers compassion through deeper understanding. It provides strength through knowledge. I believe data can make us more mindful people. That’s why I’m here.

This website is a mixture of updates, portfolio and recommended resources. While providing my own content, I also hope to highlight other work that I’ve learned from recently, both scientific and non-scientific. I want to highlight how we are connected, both within our bodies and to one another, through data. I hope this excites you as much as it does me.

Let’s go.