His research interests focus on how bacteria react to changes in their surroundings, especially in soil and compost, and in how they interact with plants and fungi in the region around plant roots (the “rhizosphere”),. He is actively involved in projects on soil health, microbial P and S metabolism in agricultural soils, bioremediation of contaminated soils, and plant-microbe and fungal-microbe interactions, including those that are critical for commercial production of mushroom compost and for high-yield mushroom farming.