About
About the Group
Our group works at the interface of environmental chemistry, microbiology, and biotechnology. We study the environmental fate and occurrence of chemicals with a particular focus on biotransformation processes. We leverage advanced analytical tools (e.g., high-resolution mass spectrometry), meta-omics sequencing, molecular biology, and biochemical techniques to investigate chemical-microbe interactions and identify the responsible genes and enzymes. We strive to use this fundamental knowledge to build a framework for understanding the impact of human perturbations on biodiversity, water quality, food safety, and public health. We aim to design sustainable approaches, such as environmentally benign chemicals and novel biocatalysts, for waste removal and resource recovery.
Current research interests include (but are not limited to):
- Fate, occurrence, and ecological impact of anthropogenic chemicals and naturally occurring toxins in the environment
- Enrichment, isolation, and characterization of functional environmental microorganisms
- Synthetic microbial communities for studying and engineering chemical–microbe interactions
- Discovery and engineering of environmental biocatalysts (enzymes) for pollutant transformation and resource recovery
- Lab automation and high-throughput screening to accelerate functional characterization and system optimization
- Applications of AI in environmental microbiology and chemistry (e.g., predictive modelling, protein structure/function inference, reaction pattern recognition, benign chemical design)
- Novel reactor/bioprocess engineering for enhanced waste removal and resource recovery