Dr. Max Kolton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. He is an environmental microbiologist whose research focuses on soil and aquatic microbiomes, with a particular interest in how microbial communities respond to anthropogenic disturbances such as heavy metal contamination, microplastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. Dr. Kolton integrates field-based studies, controlled experiments, and high-throughput molecular techniques to understand how microbial community dynamics influence ecosystem resilience and biogeochemical cycling.
Before joining Southeastern, Dr. Kolton was a Senior Lecturer at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, a Research Scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Rush University Medical Center in the United States. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and currently leads several collaborative projects on microbial-driven restoration of degraded ecosystems in Louisiana
Area of Expertise
Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology, with emphasis on plant–soil–microbe interactions, microbial community dynamics under environmental stress (heavy metals, microplastics), and restoration of ecosystem functions. Additional expertise includes high-throughput sequencing, metagenomics, and molecular microbial ecology approaches.
