In the Goff Lab, we're uncovering how fire—or the lack of it—shapes forest soils and the invisible microbial communities that live within them. Our research focuses on how fire history affects soil nitrogen and carbon cycling by microorganisms, with significant implications for climate change and plant productivity. 

We're comparing soils from forests that have been regularly burned with those where fire has been suppressed for decades. Using DNA and RNA sequencing, chemical analyses, and gas flux measurements, we're identifying which microbes are active, which genes they’re using, and how their activity contributes to nitrogen emissions. Currently, we are performing research at two fire-dependent ecosystems: (1) the Albany Pine Bush (NY) and (2) the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area (TN).

This work is helping us understand how forest management practices influence not just biodiversity and ecosystem health, but also climate feedbacks. This work is funded in part by the US Department of Energy.

We study how bacteria respond to exposure from multiple heavy metals—an increasingly common issue in polluted environments. While most research looks at one metal at a time, real-world contamination usually involves mixtures. Our work shows that when metals like nickel and copper are combined, they can disrupt bacterial systems in unexpected ways, triggering stress responses that don’t occur with single metals.

Using both environmental bacteria and lab models like E. coli, we’ve found that metal mixtures can interfere with iron homeostasis, cofactor stability, central carbon metabolism, and cellular respiration. Surprisingly, these effects are distinct from the individual metal exposures, revealing new layers of complexity in how bacteria sense and respond to their environment.

By understanding these responses, we hope to better predict the impact of pollution on microbial life, which plays a critical role in soil health, water quality, and ecosystem stability.

This research is supported in part by the Syracuse University Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy System Innovations and the SUNY Center for Applied Microbiology.

Model for decreased nitrate/nitrite reductase activity during mixed metal exposure. Goff, J.L. et al. Mixed heavy metal stress induces global iron starvation response. ISME J 17, 382–392 (2023). 

We are exploring how how mobile genetic elements (MGEs) shape microbial genome evolution in the ORR subsurface. Movement of MGEs by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) can promote the rapid adaptation of microorganisms to environmental stressors through analysis of both metagenome-assembled MGEs as well as MGEs in the genomes of pure culture isolates from contaminated environments.  Additionally, we are using adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) to experimentally probe mechanisms of genome evolution during environmental stress.  In particular, we are interested in plasmid gene content and stability and the expansion of transposable elements in microbial genomes.  

Plasmids identified in the genome of an isolated representative of a dominant species in a mixed waste contaminated subsurface environment. Goff, J.L. et al. (2022) Ecophysiological and genomic analyses of a representative isolate of highly abundant Bacillus cereus strains in contaminated subsurface sediments. Environmental Microbiology, 24( 11), 5546– 5560. 

Microplastics aren’t just pollution—they’re floating platforms that can carry other harmful contaminants through the environment. In the Goff Lab, we study how microplastics interact with bacteria, heavy metals, and antibiotic resistance genes in waterways across upstate New York and beyond! 

We’re currently characterizing the microbial communities that colonize microplastic surfaces, including the genomes and plasmids of bacteria that may carry antibiotic resistance genes. Using metagenomic sequencing, we’re uncovering how these plastic-associated biofilms evolve and what risks they pose. 

We’re also investigating how urbanization and extreme weather events that impact upstate New York waterways affect the colonization of microplastics by potentially harmful microbes. In parallel, we’re studying how weathering changes different plastic types, and how that affects their ability to absorb heavy metals, using FTIR and ICP-MS. 

This research helps us understand the broader environmental role of microplastics as vectors for contamination in freshwater systems.

This work is supported in part by the NYS Center of Excellence in Healthy Water Solutions and the NYS Water Resources Institute.