On the 26th of February 2024, Amelia was awarded the Elite Forsk Prize, a prestigious award given by the Danish Council for Independent Research of the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. The Elite Forsk Prize is a highly reputed award conferred upon researchers under the age of 45 who have made significant contributions to the global research community. This award highlights the researcher’s exceptional achievements at the international level.
Photo credit: Søren Kjeldgaard
Here is a video of the award. And a link to interviews with the awardees.
We’re excited to announce the arrival of several talented individuals who are joining our team this year:
Lorena Selak (AU/SDU) – As a postdoc, Lorena will be exploring the dynamics of methane cycling within marine sediments, bringing valuable insights into this crucial environmental process. She is on a joint postdoc between Aarhus University and the University of Southern Denmark.
Adrienn Groza (Radboud Uni) – Joining us as an Erasmus MSc student, Adrienn will delve into the microbial key players within MEC-AD reactors that treat digestate, aiming to enhance our understanding of microbial contributions to renewable energy processes.
Sebastian Rotenberg (SDU) – As a Bachelor’s student, Sebastian is set to investigate how Methanosarcina acetivorans respond to various stressors through changes on its cell surface, a study that promises to deepen our grasp of the adaptability and resilience of methanogens.
We are thrilled to have Lorena, Adrienn, and Sebastian on board and can’t wait to see the exciting scientific discoveries they’ll be making.
We are delighted to celebrate the successful completion of Sebastian B’s, Sarah’s, and Anne’s bachelor theses in 2023. Their dedication and hard work have brought them to this significant milestone, and we couldn’t be prouder.
Sebastian B continues his journey with us, embarking on Master of Science studies focused on genetics in Geobacter metallireducens. He will delve into gene deletions and insertions to understand more deeply the metabolism and mechanisms of extracellular electron transfer in Geobacter.
Sarah, too, is continuing her journey with us for her MSc research, where she will study methanogens’ survival and possibly growth under oxygen. This follows her remarkable work during her BSc studies, where she isolated a methanogen from aerobic Rømø tidal sediments, marking a significant step towards understanding these organisms’ adaptability.
We are excited about what the future holds and the discoveries Sebastian and Sarah will make in their master’s research. Here’s to their next chapter of exploration and discovery!
Our latest research breaks new ground by scrutinizing the effects of cathodic currents on syntrophic consortia, specifically those involved in direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET). While previous theories posited that cathodic currents could enhance DIET interactions and methanogenesis at the cathode, our findings reveal a different story.
Contrary to expectations, we demonstrate that cathodic current does not promote methanogenesis by the consortia. Instead, it proves harmful, disrupting the interspecies interactions. This pivotal study challenges existing assumptions and opens new avenues for understanding the dynamics of microbial interactions on electrodes within bioelectrochemical systems for MEC-AD.
A lot has happened since the last update in autumn 2022.
So what is new?
In November 2023, Karina Hernandez, an oceanographer from UNAM, Mexico, started her Ph.D. with us. Her research topic is methane cycling and microbial interactions mediated by minerals in marine sediments from arctic and subarctic coastlines.
We hosted Teto Sheitshiro, a geomicrobiology Ph.D. student, from the University of Manchester (Lloyd lab). Teto has been with us for 3-months working on anaerobic methane oxidation coupled with iron reduction.
Mid-January 2023, two molecular biology and biotechnology students from the University of Rome joined the team with ERASMUS fellowships. Valentina Palushi and Pamela Ciacia are now learning to create mutants in Geobacter and study environmental consortia dependent on conductive particles.
In February, we welcomed four BSc thesis students to the team. Sarah Sabro Damgaard is continuing her hunt for isolating methanogens from marine sediments after a successful independent study activity in our team. Anne Salsgaard Anderson has started a bachelor thesis studying the best conditions for electromethanogenesis by Methanosacina. Sebastian Bak Bjørnskov is developing a vector construct for gene modifications of Geobacter metallireducens. Ask Våtvik Balsløv is looking at differences in cellular aggregation in marine and freshwater Methanosarcina species.
In March 2023, we will welcome a material science engineering Ph.D. student from UCAS, China – Yanan Wang. Yanan isolated methanogens and sulfate reducers from corroded pipelines in China. She won a UCAS fellowship to join the team for one year to study interspecies interactions between her isolates and the impact of the coupled partners on steel corrosion.
A 2022 Christmas photo of some of the team members.
