Trees are more than just plants—they host distinct and highly specialized microbial communities within their wood. Deep in the oxygen-limited heartwood, fungi, bacteria, and archaea form unique ecosystems, shaping tree health and even contributing to methane production. This talk explores how these microbiomes vary across tree species and tissues, their interactions, and their surprising role in forest biogeochemistry.

Jon Gewirtzman is an ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist, and a 5th year PhD candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. His research examines how plant and microbial communities regulate greenhouse gas fluxes in forest ecosystems, with a particular focus on methane emissions from trees and the role of the tree microbiome. By studying interactions between fungi, bacteria, and their hosts across scales—from individual microbes to landscapes—Jon aims to better understand how ecosystems influence and respond to global biogeochemical cycles. Jon earned his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Brown University and an MPhil from Yale. Before his PhD, he worked as a research technician in Woods Hole, Boston, and the Alaskan Arctic.