Faculty

Rima B. Franklin
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Virginia (2004)
rbfranklin@vcu.edu
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~rbfranklin

Office room: 032
Office phone: (804) 828-6753

Lab room: 030
Lab phone: (804) 828-0125

Research interests:
Spatial patterns in microbial communities.  Microbial diversity and redundancy, and their relationship to ecosystem function in a range of aquatic and terrestrial habitats.  Application of traditional ecological theories and models to study microbial communities.

Courses currently taught:
Microbial ecology (BIOL 591)
Environmental Science (BIOL 103)

Dr. Rima Franklin earned her Ph.D. in environmental science in 2004 from the University of Virginia, concentrating in microbial ecology.  Her dissertation research focused on studying spatial patterns in microbial communities and determining the important factors that control their distribution and activity.  Her current projects include: (1) extending this work via laboratory and field microcosm experiments to manipulate spatial structure and determine the impact it may have on community stability; (2) studying microbial community "assembly rules" and the role of immigration in maintaining stable microbial activity; and (3) geomicrobiology and food web structure of submerged cave systems in Florida and Bermuda.  She addresses these topics using laboratory experiments and comparative field studies, often incorporating techniques from other disciplines such as molecular microbiology, multivariate statistics, and analytical chemistry.