Alecia Septer

Alecia Septer is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on interbacterial interactions, genetic determinants of bacterial social behaviors, and marine host-microbe symbiosis. She has expertise in Vibrio fischeri symbiotic systems and bacterial competition mechanisms, particularly involving the Type VI secretion system (T6SS).

Education includes a B.Sc. from The Ohio State University (2006), a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia (2012), and postdoctoral training at Harvard University and UNC-Chapel Hill. Her work bridges microbiology, genetics, and marine biology, with emphasis on regulatory networks and environmental adaptation in bacterial communities.

Research interests emphasize symbiotic specificity, bacterial competition dynamics, and the role of regulatory proteins like H-NS in controlling virulence and biofilm formation. Recent studies investigate how environmental cues (e.g., calcium, viscosity) modulate T6SS activity and interbacterial conflict in host-associated microbiomes.

Her publications span topics from genomic analysis of symbiotic bacteria to modeling bacterial competition strategies, with a focus on marine organisms like the Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes). She contributes to understanding how microbial interactions shape community structure and host colonization success.