Tracey Somera obtained her BS degree in Marine Science at Florida Institute of Technology. During her PhD, she studied the role that microbes play in the health of coral reef ecosystems. From there, her interests transitioned to the terrestrial biome and she completed a postdoc in apple research under Dr. Mark Mazzola. Tracey is now an Interdisciplinary Research Plant Pathologist/Microbiologist at the ARS Tree Fruit Research Unit in Wenatchee, WA. Research in her lab is largely geared toward engineering soil and plant-associated microbiomes to directly benefit fruit tree production systems.