Trevor Charles

Dr. Trevor Charles is a Professor in the Department of Biology and a microbiologist whose work applies bacterial genetics to the study of bacteria in both pure culture and environmental communities.

His research has focused on bacteria that form beneficial relationships with plants. Using comparative and functional genomics, he investigates the shared genetic factors underlying these interactions. His work on microbial communities emphasizes functional metagenomics, including the design of library screens to uncover novel metabolic and antimicrobial resistance genes, as well as the development of bacterial chromosome engineering approaches for strain improvement and biodegradable plastic production by upcycling food waste. His research group also studies pathogen surveillance using genomic methods.

Charles’ research has had significant public impact across public health, sustainability and agriculture. His team contributed to COVID‑19 wastewater surveillance and continues to develop genomic methods to detect emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. He has advanced a circular bioeconomy through the commercialisation of dairy waste-derived bioplastics and supports sustainable agriculture through plant‑beneficial microbes and pathogen surveillance systems now being applied in agricultural and hydroponic environments.

• Plant-microbe interactions

• Symbiotic nitrogen fixation

• Functional metagenomics

• Bacterial genome engineering

• Synthetic biology, bioplastics and bioproducts

• Microbiology

• Molecular genetics

• Sustainable food production

• Pathogens surveillance

• 1991, PhD Biology, McMaster University, Canada

• 1985, BSc Microbiology, University of British Columbia, Canada

• 2025, Wiley Research Heroes Prize

• 2022, Research Innovation and Impact Award, BE-STEMM Conference, Canadian Black Scientists Network

• 2015, Fellowship of Association of Biotechnology and Pharmacy (India)

• 2015, International Award of the Ninth DBN Science and Technology Awards (China)

• 2012, Outstanding Performance Award

• 2000 – 2010, President, Canadian Society of Microbiologists

• 1991, NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship

• Lanterna, Executive Director

• Specialty Chief Editor, Frontiers in Microbiology, Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants

• Senate Graduate and Research Council

• American Society for Microbiology

• Canadian Society of Microbiologists

• International Phytobiomes Alliance

• International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions

• International Society for Microbial Ecology

• The Water Institute (Member)

• Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI) (Core member)

• Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research (Member)

• Waterloo Climate Institute (Member)

• BIOL 431 - Bacterial Molecular Genetics
  • Taught in 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025
• BIOL 442 - Virology
  • Taught in 2026
• BIOL 475 - Current Topics in Microbiology
  • Taught in 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026
• BIOL 608 - Advanced Bacterial Genetics
  • Taught in 2021
• CHE 500 - Special Topics in Chemical Engineering
  • Taught in 2021

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• For the full list of Trevor Charles' publications, please see Google Scholar.

• Overton, A.K., Charles, T., Knapp, J.J., Lawal, O.U. et al. (2024). Genomic surveillance of Canadian airport wastewater samples allows early detection of emerging SARS-CoV-2 lineages. Sci Rep 14, 26534 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-76925-6

• Ellmen, I., Charles, T., Overton, A.K., Knapp, J.J. et al. (2024). Reconstructing SARS-CoV-2 lineages from mixed wastewater sequencing data. Sci Rep 14, 20273. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-70416-4

• Nash, D., Ellmen, I., Knapp, J. J., Menon, R., Overton, A. K., Cheng, J., Lynch, M. D. J., Nissimov, J. I., & Charles, T. C. (2024). A Novel Tiled Amplicon Sequencing Assay Targeting the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV) Genome Reveals Widespread Distribution in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Systems in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Viruses, 16(3), 460. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16030460

• Cheng, J., Charles, T.C. (2016). Novel polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymers produced in Pseudomonas putida by metagenomic polyhydroxyalkanoate synthases. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 7611–7627. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7666-6

• Tam, T., Charles, T., (2020). Lactic acid containing polymers produced in engineered Sinorhizobium meliloti and Pseudomonas putida. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218302

• Wastewater surveillance detecting trends in both human and agricultural diseases
• Wastewater testing still a valuable tool for public health
• Berry good news: Waterloo-led team tackles food insecurity through sustainable year-round berry production in Canada
• Trevor Charles wins Research Innovation and Impact Award
• Introducing LiftOff: a Black-led business accelerator and incubator for Black Entrepreneurs
• Trevor Charles awarded $250,000 through The New Frontiers in Research Fund Exploration competition
• Ontario Genomics Institute SPARK Award