)
Dr Andrew Crombie - Senior Research Associate
I am a microbial physiologist with a broad interest in biogeochemical cycling of atmospheric trace gases. Most of my research has focused on facultative methanotrophs, their ability to consume a range of trace gases in addition to methane and the resulting enzymology and regulation. More broadly, I am interested in plant-microbe interactions and the effect of volatile plant secondary metabolites on the plant-associated microbiome. Currently I divide my time between these areas, and research into the mechanisms that cause nitrifiers to produce the climate-active gases nitric and nitrous oxide.
Dr Marcela Hernández - Royal Society Research Fellow
Environmental Biology
01603 593866
I am a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow at the University of East Anglia, UK. I am an environmental microbiologist studying the diversity and function of soil microbiomes. My research aims to identify and characterise the major players in biogeochemical cycling of the components of trace gases. I use high-throughput sequencing and stable-isotope probing to assess community diversity and function.
Dr Laura Lehtovirta-Morley Royal Society - Research Fellow
Molecular Microbiology
01603 592192
I am a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow. My group works on the microbial physiology and ecology of the global nitrogen cycle, with focus on ammonia oxidising microorganisms. We use cultivation-dependent and cultivation-dependent approaches to examine the mechanisms underpinning the adaptations of these microorganisms to the environment
Professor Colin Murrell - Director
Environmental Microbiology
01603 592959
My research group studies the vital role that microbes play in consuming climate active gases and volatile organic compounds such as methane, methanol, isoprene and dimethylsulfide before they are released into the atmosphere. We investigate the metabolism and ecology of these microbes in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments using cutting edge ecophysiology, molecular ecology, genomics and metagenomics techniques.
Professor Cock van Oosterhout - Director
Evolutionary Genetics
01603 592921
My group uses Next Generation Sequence (NGS) data to address evolutionary questions that are relevant to conservation biology, host parasite co-evolution and adaptation to changing environments. We are working on various organisms, including fish (guppies, cichlids and salmon), birds (the pink pigeon and the echo parakeet), micro-algae (Skeletonema marinoi and Fragilariopsis cylindrus), and numerous pathogens and parasites (e.g. gyrodactylids, cryptosporidium, the oomycete Albugo candida and aphids). We are also developing novel software applications to analyse genome data.