email: chimileski@hms.harvard.edu

Most bacterial and archaeal cells are far too small to see with the naked eye. However, microbes are seldom if ever found in isolation. Rather, the biology of the microbial world is underpinned by the tremendous interactivity, sociality and modularity of individual cells, which often coalesce in great numbers to produce macroscopically visible structures, including biofilms, microbial mats, colonies, swarms and fruiting bodies. I am focused on the development of macroscopic imaging techniques as well as time-lapse photography and three-dimensional scanning technologies as applied to microbial multicellular forms, collective behaviors, communities and interspecies interactions. I am also interested in leveraging the power of photography as a medium for communicating microbiology to other scientists and to the general public.