This website provides information about the Plant and Soil Ecology Lab at Algoma University (a.k.a. Antunes lab), for those interest in joining or collaborating. Research in my lab focuses primarily on the ecology of plant-microbial symbioses. The main goal is to understand how soil microbes affect plant growth and contribute to structure plant communities. Exotic plant invasions represent one of the greatest changes happening in the world today. I am interested in understanding effects of invasive plants on the community structure and function of symbiotic soil microbes and vice-versa.
Our lab is truly international. We have students from as far as New Zealand and Portugal. We also have formal agreements and active projects with partners in Portugal, Germany, Brazil and the United States.
In 2010 the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources provided funding to Algoma University to establish a Research Chair in Invasive Species Biology. As Chair, Dr. Antunes' research is targeted at identifying and addressing research priorities on invasive plants for the Province of Ontario. In addition, in collaboration with the Invasive Species Centre and the Ontario Invasive Plant Council (OIPC), Dr. Antunes is contributing to the development of a terrestrial invasive species (TIS) network. The lab is an integral part of the Invasive Species Research Institute (ISRI), which in turn is a hub of the North American Invasive Species Network. Dr. Antunes is the Scientific director of ISRI, the first Chair of the Board of Directors of NAISN and the Chair of the Research and Control Committee of the OIPC.