Professor Leadbetter's research seeks to clarify the form, function, and spatial distribution of diverse microbes in their environment. His past studies have focused on the cultivation of microbial strains possessing unusual, atypical, or previously unrecognized properties, and have sought to reveal the impact of these organisms on their given environment. He has applied the use of a number of physiological, chemical, and molecular genetic techniques to his studies, underscoring the utility of both classical and newly developed methods in the pursuit of fundamental questions in Environmental Microbiology.