Christina Khodadad, Ph.D. completed her degree at Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, and followed with post-doctoral research at the University of Florida, Kennedy Space Center, FL, before joining the molecular biology team at KSC. Her research areas include molecular ecology, molecular microbiology, and plant microbiomes. Additional laboratory and field studies include population genetics and developmental biology. Current or past projects at KSC include Veggie Microbiome, Seed/Plant Microbiome, Microbial Monitoring Systems for Water Monitoring, and E-MIST. Much of the laboratory work completed includes DNA/RNA research coupled with polymerase chain reaction (qPCR, RT-PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS).