Benjamin Wolfe

Benjamin Wolfe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Tufts University, located within the School of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on the ecology and evolution of microbial communities, particularly in fermented foods like cheese, sourdough, and kimchi. He integrates experimental evolution, metagenomics, comparative genomics, and genome engineering to understand microbial community assembly and function.

Education:

• PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University (2010)
• MSc in Botany, University of Guelph (2005)
• BS in Natural Resources/Plant Science, Cornell University (2003)

Research Interests: His work seeks to develop microbial community design principles for applications in agriculture, medicine, and industry. Key themes include microbial interactions, genome evolution, and the role of fermented foods in microbial literacy. Recent projects explore fungal impacts on bacterial genomes and the metabolic roles of acetic acid bacteria in sourdough.

Grants & Funding:

• NSF CAREER Award (2020–2025)
• BII-Design Grant on Biological Resilience (2020–2022)
• USDA Dairy Innovation Grant (2021–2022)

Teaching & Outreach: He teaches courses such as Microbiology Lecture, Microbiology of Food, and Microbiome Research Lab. Outreach includes workshops for cheese guilds and collaborations with chefs to improve microbial literacy through food systems.

Labs & Collaborations: The Wolfe Lab collaborates with scientists and food producers. Projects emphasize synthetic microbiome design and microbial community dynamics. The lab also maintains a Microbiome Discovery Center for public engagement.