{"id":20161,"date":"2025-03-19T10:13:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T14:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/?p=20161"},"modified":"2025-03-20T12:37:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T16:37:01","slug":"laura-eme-cmb-new-faculty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/news\/laura-eme-cmb-new-faculty\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura Eme, Associate Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology, on Exploring Evolutionary Biology with Bioinformatics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Studying the evolutionary history and diversity of microbial life\u2013the dominant life form on earth\u2013is critical for understanding how life became as complex as it is today. Tiny microbes found virtually everywhere\u2013from soil to skin\u2013carry important clues about how cells adapt and evolve in response to changing environments. New associate professor of cell and molecular biology<\/a>, Laura Eme<\/a>, combines biology and bioinformatics to study these relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drawn to the \u201cdynamic blend of robust research opportunities and a strong commitment to student success,\u201d Eme says she immediately noticed the collaborative spirit on campus when she arrived in Kingston last summer. \u201cFaculty, staff, and students alike were genuinely enthusiastic about interdisciplinary projects and innovation. It felt like an environment where I could not only advance my own research, but also inspire and mentor the next generation of scholars,\u201d she says of her decision to join URI\u2019s faculty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the core tenets of URI\u2019s land-and-sea grant mission is community engagement, and Eme notes that this emphasis is important to her. \u201cI appreciate how URI encourages students to apply their classroom learning to real-world challenges, collaborating with local organizations and community leaders to drive meaningful impact. This spirit of service and outreach is woven into the fabric of the institution and makes it an inspiring environment to be part of,\u201d she says. \u201cWhether through organized outreach programs, student-led initiatives, or faculty research partnerships, the University consistently demonstrates a genuine commitment to making a positive difference locally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noting that she\u2019s always been captivated by life\u2019s incredible diversity and the underlying processes that drive evolution, Eme was drawn to the field of biology to unravel mysteries about the origins, adaptations, and relationships of living things. The method of choice to conduct this exploration? Computational tools. \u201dBioinformatics provides the perfect bridge: it turns vast, often complex biological data into a window on how life has evolved over time,\u201d she says. \u201cThis combination of hands-on biology and computational analysis is endlessly fascinating to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her current research uses a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, and state-of-the-art phylogenetic approaches to explore how and when eukaryotic organelles (like mitochondria) arose, and how various microbial lineages adapted to diverse and sometimes extreme environments, among other complex questions. \u201cBy piecing together the evolutionary relationships among these fascinating microbes, we aim to gain deeper insights into the processes that shaped life\u2019s complexity and paved the way for the emergence of our modern biosphere,\u201d she says. \u201cThis window into the past helps us understand the incredible resilience and versatility of microbes, and also sheds light on fundamental processes that continue to drive evolution in all forms of life, including our own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eme was involved in the initial project design for a recently published paper<\/a> in Nature<\/em> in which researchers used a state-of-the-art genome analysis model to answer fundamental questions about the ‘tree of life’ and what the cellular ancestor of complex life looked like. The analysis was her primary postdoctoral objective when she was in co-author Andrew Roger’s lab several years ago. \u201cI assembled and analyzed the initial dataset of molecular sequences that were used as the foundation for the work published here,\u201d she says. While Eme was involved as a collaborator and developed expertise in analyzing this type of data, the complex study wasn\u2019t completed when she left Dalhousie University and has since been updated and expanded by Kelsey Williamson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noting the importance of having a supportive environment to encourage creativity in the classroom, Eme says she looks forward to designing courses at URI that challenge students to think critically by connecting abstract concepts to the living world around them. \u201cOne of the biggest challenges is making those complex ideas in biology both accessible and engaging, but it\u2019s also where real learning and growth happen,\u201d she says. \u201cBeyond course material, I hope my students walk away with a mindset of curiosity and resilience. I want them to see science not just as a collection of facts, but as a process of exploration and continuous questioning and critical thinking\u2014skills that extend far beyond the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eme encourages current students to cultivate the mindset of a scientist by gaining hands-on experience, seeking interdisciplinary connections, and building strong relationships with peers and professors. \u201cStay curious,\u201d she says. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to ask questions, even if they seem basic or tangential. College is the perfect environment to explore new ideas, learn from mistakes, and discover what genuinely excites you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students who are passionate about exploring evolutionary relationships will soon be able to work alongside Eme when she gets her lab up and running. \u201cOpportunities will range from analyzing genomic data across the diversity of life, to investigating how microorganisms adapt to various environments,\u201d she  says. \u201cUndergraduates and graduate students alike are welcome to get involved\u2014whether you\u2019re keen to hone your laboratory skills, dive into computational analysis, or develop new research questions of your own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Eme and colleagues in Chile. They spent time in the Southern part of the Atacama region to sample the microbial diversity of unusual environments such as high-salt ones. Photo courtesy of Eme’s lab page: emelaura.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New associate professor of cell and molecular biology, Laura Eme, uses bioinformatics to study the evolutionary history and diversity of microbial life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1089,"featured_media":20162,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1089"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20161"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20177,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20161\/revisions\/20177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}