Spark’s research focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of Sphaerulina musiva, a filamentous fungal pathogen of poplar. Using CRISPR-Cas9-mediated transformation, he disrupts global regulators and GWAS-identified targets in S. musiva to uncover their roles in secondary metabolite production and pathogenesis. In parallel, he’s developing novel genetic strategies to mitigate pathogenicity in field settings, including synthetic selfish genetic elements and the discovery of an in vitro mating system for S. musiva. He is engineering poplar-associated fungi as biosensors, using fluorescent reporters to detect environmental cues.