Ryan Blaustein

Ryan Blaustein is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Maryland, College Park, affiliated with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR). His lab, the Blaustein Lab, focuses on microbial ecology, genomics, and food safety, with ties to the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) and the UMD Microbiome Center of Excellence. He holds a Ph.D. in Microbial Ecology from the University of Florida (2017), an M.S. in Environmental Microbiology from UMD (2014), and a B.S. in Biology from UMD (2011).

His research spans microbial community dynamics in food systems, environmental microbiology, and antimicrobial resistance. Notable projects include analyzing pathogen genomics in clinical and environmental contexts, developing bio-based solutions for food safety, and investigating microbial responses to agricultural practices. He splits his time equally between research and teaching, instructing courses such as Food Microbiology and R for Applied Genomics.

Key themes in his publications include metagenomic analyses of irrigation water, antimicrobial resistance in urban agriculture, and microbial adaptations to clinical and environmental stressors. His work integrates computational methods with experimental microbiology to address real-world challenges in food security and public health.