Marshall LedfordPostdoctoral Scholar

Research Focus:

Microbial trace gas metabolism

Email:

sledford@uchicago.edu

Office:

Hinds 379

Biography

Ph.D. Genetics, University of Arizona 2026

B.A. Biology, Vassar College 2021

Research Interests

My research broadly aims to define mechanisms for how the atmosphere shapes and is shaped by microbial ecology. Traits for gas metabolism experience unique selection pressures due to high substrate diffusivity across scales of membranes, cells, microsites, and ecosystems. My work integrates microbial omics and gas flux measurement approaches to determine the underlying principles driving these microbe-gas interactions and predict how they may be influenced by global change. 

Microbial Ecology; Volatile Metabolism; Astrobiology; The Cryosphere

Selected Publications

Ledford, S. M., Geffre, P., Marschmann, G. L., Karaoz, U., Brodie, E. L., & Meredith, L. K. (2025). Volatile traits expand the microbial playbook. Trends in Microbiology.

 

Ledford, S. M., & Meredith, L. K. (2024). Volatile organic compound metabolism on early Earth. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 92(5),