Susannah Halbrook - Class of 2011

A career in research is really all about being brave enough to ask questions and unafraid to not know the answers. As a recent graduate of the ecology and evolutionary biology PhD program at Tulane University, Susannah Halbrook (Class of 2011) certainly knows how to be a professional researcher. “In research, you are, by design, constantly doing things that you don’t know how to do because you’re finding out new information. That can take a toll on you and a lot of grad students struggle with confidence,” shares Susannah, further adding, “Overlake gave me an amazing education and I gained a lot of confidence because it is such a comfortable and friendly environment where you can be yourself. Starting my academic career in a nurturing yet rigorous place bolstered my confidence and helped me succeed in my current work.” 

Susannah has been studying plants and asking questions to drive her research in the relatively new field of microbial ecology, studying how soil microbes respond to the environment, interact with plants, and change over space and time. “Just like humans, plants (and all organisms) interact with microbes for necessary functions, like nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and immune function” notes Susannah. Her dissertation focused on how soil fungal and bacterial communities change over long-term time scales in nature in response to short-term environmental disturbances, and how an invasion plant changes soil microbiomes differentially across the landscape.   

After defending her dissertation in November of 2024, Susannah will be starting a postdoctoral research fellowship in Plant Pathology at UC Davis in January of 2025. Working with Dr. Johan Leveau, Susannah will be studying the microbiome of diseased versus healthy carrots to hopefully use microbiomes to combat crop disease.  

Taking up a fellowship in Davis, California means leaving her now second-home of New Orleans where she’s been living for over 13 years since first arriving at Tulane as an undergrad. While in New Orleans, Susannah has enjoyed the city’s lively music scene which has inspired her pick up the violin again, which she hadn’t played since 8th grade zero period Orchestra at Overlake. Susannah also enjoys gardening and baking, and has recently taken up sewing, even learning to make and alter her own clothes.   

You can follow Susannah’s research at UC Davis by connecting with her through our Overlake Alumni LinkedIn group.