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\title{Hi! We're scientists from the Dunn Lab in the Department of Applied
Ecology at North Carolina State University, and we study the
biodiversity and ecology of microbes in things like Sourdough bread,
insects and in human homes, Ask us anything!}



\author[1]{Dunn_Lab }%
\author[1]{r/Science AMAs}%
\affil[1]{Affiliation not available}%


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  \date{April 23, 2026}


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\begin{abstract}
Update: We're all finished answering questions for the day. Thank you
for all of the great questions and interest in our work! Thanks, The
Dunn Lab. Microbes live everywhere, and are linked to everything we do.
The Dunn lab aims to tell the stories of the small species -- whether on
our bodies, in our homes or our backyards -- that humans interact with
every day but tend to ignore. The ecology and evolution of these species
has barely begun to be explored. We are tackling the unknown with the
help of the public, through citizen science research. Here are some of
our projects: The Sourdough Project: Humans have baked bread for over
10,000 years. All over the world, different cultures bake their own
unique breads -- and have for centuries. Yet we know almost nothing
about the microbes that truly make a traditional sourdough bread. We
have collected over 500 sourdough starters from 17 countries and are now
engaging middle school students to grow and study their own starters, on
a quest to understand the microbial zoos that transform flour and water
into fluffy, nutritious, aromatic bread. The Crop Mutualist Project:
Crop plants have many kinds of mutualists. Flies, bees, and wasps
pollinate many crops and in many cases those relationships are specific.
But others of the mutualists are smaller, they include the fungi and
bacteria that aid plant roots in finding nutrients and also the fungi
and bacteria that dwell in and on plant leaves and, in doing so, help to
defend them against pathogens and, in some cases, against pests. It is
these microscopic partners on which we will initially focus. The Great
Pumpkin Project: We are documenting the insects and microbes that visit
all cucurbit plants, including pumpkins (which are native to the
Americas) and cucumbers (which are native to Asia). These plants are now
grown and enjoyed throughout the world, yet we know very little about
the microbes and insects that grow with them. The Wild Life of Our
Homes: Human homes are often considered to be unique from the
environments in which we evolved. Though we now spend most of our lives
indoors, it has only been in recent years that we have started to fully
explore the diversity of microbes which colonize and persist in these
spaces. With the help of citizen scientists, our lab has studied the
differences among interior surfaces within homes from North America
(e.g., how microbial communities vary on pillows compared to toilet
seats). We are now expanding this research to include differences in
home design, as well as to consider how our species interactions may
have changed throughout human history. We're doing this AMA as part of
the National Human Genome's National DNA Day Reddit AMA series to
celebrate how genomics is used in our everyday lives. Ask us anything
about our work on microbial ecology in guts, crops, homes, sourdough,
and other fermented foods! Your hosts today are: Dr. Rob Dunn, professor
of applied ecology Dr. Erin McKenney, postdoctoral researcher studying
microbial community dynamics and the relationship between taxonomy,
function, and niche space in sourdough and guts. I'm interested in
coupling research and education, and I am also a blacksmith. Dr. Anne A.
Madden, postdoctoral researcher studying the bacteria and fungi of
diverse environments (not limited to fermented foods and beverages,
insects, and built environments) and developing human applications from
these insights. Dr. Lori Shapiro, postdoctoral researcher studying how
agricultural systems change selective pressures on plant-insect and
plant-microbe interactions. I use cucurbits as model systems to
investigate how landscape scale changes associated with agriculture
affect crop mutualists. Megan Thoemmes, doctoral candidate studying the
interface between the human body and the indoor environment. I am
interested in how our species interactions have changed over time, as
our homes have become more permanent and further removed from the
natural world. Lauren Nichols, research technician studying how species
adapt to their environment and how this affects inter-species
interactions and evolutionary diversification, particularly in the
context of anthropogenic environmental changes. Learn more about the
Dunn lab: http://robdunnlab.com/ Learn more about our citizen science
projects: http://studentsdiscover.org/ Ongoing work in the Dunn lab
considers the role of wasps and ants in traditional vineyards, the
biology of pants, the potential value of microbes in camel crickets to
industrial waste remediation, and the biology of foods such as sourdough
bread. In general, Dr. Dunn uses insights from basic ecology and
evolution to make new discoveries but also to achieve applied goals.%
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