Short characteristics of research area:

Microbial ecology of soil and groundwater associated bacteria is the main area of my research. I believe that microbial ecology in soil can only be described properly using combinations of molecular methods, biogeochemical techniques and classical microbiology. I have used significant amount of energy on quantification of nucleic acids directly extracted from soil, and I have worked with different methods to quantify mRNA directly in soil. These techniques are being applied in the projects that I've been able to raise funding for.

Microbial degradation of pesticides, PAH compounds and chlorinated compounds in various soils and groundwater aquifers has been the core of my research, but I've also been working on: 1) the study of microbial communities in ice and permafrost samples from Greenland, 2) the study of survival and transport of pathogens from manure to freshwater, 3) the study of side effects of pesticides on agricultural ecosystems services, 4) effect on ash on soil exosystem services and 5) interactions in the rhziosphere microbiome – in all cases exploring the same basic methodologies, i.e. DNA and mRNA based analyses of the microorganisms directly in environmental samples.