J. Cameron Thrash

J. Cameron Thrash is a Professor of Biological Sciences and Earth Sciences at the University of Southern California, where he leads the Thrash Environmental Microbiology Lab within the Marine and Environmental Biology Section of the Department of Biological Sciences in Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

His research focuses on understanding the relationships between aquatic microorganisms and their environments, leveraging high-throughput culturing, physiology, multi-omics techniques, and cultivation-independent methods like meta-omics and single-cell genomics. The lab investigates microbial distributions and functions across diverse marine settings, including SAR11 physiology, marine microbial ecogenomics, and the microbiology of marine hypoxia.

Thrash advises a dynamic team of PhD candidates, postdoctoral scholars, and undergraduate researchers. His recent publications (2025-2023) span metagenomics, SAR11 ecophysiology, oil-degrading marine microcosms, and educational outreach in marine microbial dynamics. The lab is actively recruiting postdocs and graduate students, supported by NSF and Simons Foundation fellowships.

Contact: thrash@usc.edu