Steve Lindemann performed his undergraduate work in the Department of Biological Sciences at Purdue University, earning a B.S. with specializations in microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics in 2004. He went on to the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, where he completed his Ph.D. with Dr. Bradley D. Jones in 2010 on the virulence genetics of the causative agent of rabbit fever, Francisella tularensis. Subsequently, he performed his post-doctoral research with Dr. James K. Fredrickson at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on systems biology and metabolic interactions in environmental microbial communities.

He has now taken this molecular microbial ecology approach back to his alma mater, where he now focuses on host-pathogen-commensal interactions within and dietary influences on the human gut microbiome. Specifically, his laboratory focuses on understanding the role of dietary fiber physical and chemical structuring on gut microbial ecology.