Our planet is populated by an immense number of microorganisms. Their activities are essential for the global cycling of elements and the functioning and health of ecosystems and organisms – from plants to humans. In addition, we depend on the activities and products of microorganisms in a multitude of industrial processes including water treatment, energy production, food production and biotechnology.
At Department of Biology, we study the mechanistic details of microbial processes in natural and engineered environments and the biology of the microorganisms that drive them. Such knowledge is fundamental for understanding how element cycles respond to perturbation like climate change and how to manipulate engineered environments to control a given process like e.g. promoting nitrogen removal during wastewater treatment or limiting sulfide production in sewer and oil field systems.
Our research spans all biological levels from single organisms to communities and single ecosystems to global element cycles.
I am a researcher in evolutionary ecology and genetics and I am interested in group living, cooperation and mating systems, genomic consequences of sociality and inbred mating systems, genetic and non-genetic processes involved in adaptation. I am a professor and center leader of the Center for Ecological Genetics (EcoGenetics) at the Department of Biology. Here we investigate the relationship between genetic diversity and functional responses. We aim to predict the future distribution and performance of insects and the maintenance of population genetic diversity and to provide tools to develop effective management practices in the face of ongoing global change.
I work with research in microbial ecology, i.e. the mutual interactions between microorganisms and their environment. I am part of Center for Electromicrobiology, where we investigate microorganisms that transport electrons and exchange them with their surroundings with a special focus on cable bacteria. I did my Ph. D. in the development of a methane microsensor and was the technical lead in the startup of the microsensor company Unisense A/S and thus have technical and commercial experience.
My research field is marine biogeochemistry with emphasis on microbiological and chemical processes in the seabed and their local and global importance. We use experiments with radioactive isotopes combined with chemical analyses to trace element transformations and determine their rate. We also apply modeling tools and databases to understand the regulation of element cycles in the seabed in relation to ecology and climate.
I am a microbial ecologist interested in the ecophysiology and evolution of microbes involved in environmental element cycling and in microbe-host interaction. My main research is currently in Electromicrobiology, with focus on how electrically conductive cable bacteria work and impact their environment; and in Microbial Symbiosis, especially in bacteria-fungi-insect interactions, their function and evolution, secondary metabolites, and chemical microenvironments in animals.
