Research

Imagine a gold detector, but instead of gold, it detects microbes in real-time. Just as we can use our phones to identify plants and birds by taking pictures or recording sounds, my NatGeo project aims to detect and analyze marine microbial communities in real-time onboard the R/V Falkor (too). Microbes represent the foundational cornerstone of every ecosystem on Earth, acting as the base of marine food webs and key responders to environmental changes. Historically, microbes have been studied through culturing in the lab, but modern technologies and advances in computational approaches have allowed us to directly sequence microbes from nature, which has revolutionized our understanding of life on Earth. However, metagenomics remains a time-consuming approach, with months or years of sampling and data collection that cannot be processed until returning to the lab. This NatGeo project will leverage the high- performance computing power of the R/V Falkor (too) to bring real-time metagenomics to an unexplored marine region of the South Atlantic ocean. Real-time detection of marine microbes is essential as these communities drive feedback mechanisms that can either mitigate or worsen the effects of climate change on our planet. Real-time metagenomics will open a newera of ocean exploration and discovery, offering instant microbial insights that are vital for ocean conservation in face of climate change.

Alterations in the environment caused by human activities are severely affecting ecosystems worldwide, with often-overlooked impacts on microbial communities. One of the current more dangerous anthropogenic compounds are PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) which pose significant risks to both the environment and human health. PFAS are synthetic compounds with a chemical structure that makes them resistant to degradation and therefore, they accumulate in the environment and are associated with various toxic human effects including an increased risk of cancer. Despite worldwide efforts to understand PFAS bioaccumulation in nature, little is known about the involvement of microbial communities in PFAS degradation. Evaluating the role of microbial communities is not only critical to understand how perturbations in the environment alter essential biogeochemical reactions that support life on Earth, but also for developing targeted bioremediation strategies offering a sustainable and effective approach to mitigate PFAS contamination in the environment.