Welcome to the Hendrickson Lab! We work on better bacteriophages and the evolution of bacteria.

Microorganisms rule the planet. In the Hendrickson lab in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Canterbury we use a combination of bacteriophage discovery, experimental evolution, genomics, cell biology, genome sequencing, and genetics to study the microbial world. We are currently pursuing projects that involve using bacteriophages to protect New Zealand's primary industries against bacterial pathogens. We also study the evolution of bacterial cell shape, virulence and endosymbiosis. For more information on specific projects see the tabs to the left or head to the Research page.

Projects at the University of Canterbury:

Heather maintains an active interest in Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT), chromosome architecture, and bacteriophages. You can find links to this work on the Publications page.

The lab is also actively involved in communicating science to the public. You can find links to videos, articles and recordings on the Science Communication page or check out Heather's blog on Wordpress at "This Microbial Life".