Department Environmental Microbiology

Environmental Microbiology

Our research focuses on microbial life and activities in the environment. We strive to understand the basic rules and principles that govern the functioning of microbes and microbial communities, and then apply those principles to solve pressing applied problems.

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Selected Publications

Drinking Water Microbiology: Review on biological approaches to control Legionella growth in building plumbing systems.

Microbial Systems Ecology: Article describing how marine bacteria regulate enzyme secretion and cellular behavior to achieve degradation of complex polysaccharides in the ocean, an important process in the global carbon cycle. 

Microbial Community Assembly: Article showing that the timing of antibiotic administration determines the proliferation of antibiotic resistance-encoding plasmids.

Pathogens and Human Health: Article about the role of contaminated surfaces in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within communities and the effectiveness of hand hygiene and surface disinfection interventions.

Microbial Specialized Metabolism: Over 2/3 of pharmaceuticals are mainly excreted through urine. Most studies have focused on the gut microbiota, neglecting biotransformations in urinary by the urinary tract microbiota, which we investigate in this study.

 

Seminars

21.11.​2024,
4.00 pm
Eawag Dübendorf, room FC-C20 & Online
26.11.​2024,

News

August 22, 2024 –

Microorganisms in biofilms in rivers can break down harmful substances. Some are also able to degrade biocides, including the insect repellent diethyltoluamide (DEET) - or so it is thought. Researchers at the aquatic research...

Microorganisms in biofilms in rivers can break down harmful substances. Some are also able to degrade biocides, including the insect repellent diethyltoluamide (DEET) - or so it is thought. Researchers at the aquatic research institute Eawag have now discovered that DEET is degraded better when the proportion of treated wastewater in the water is high. They attribute this to specific enzymes that occur primarily where wastewater treatment plants return the water to the aquatic environment. However, the enzymes involved are not straightforward to predict.

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Selected Research Projects

This project aims to characterize, model and predict enzyme families driving pollutant biotransformations in periphyton.
Application of Wastewater-based Epidemiology to SARS-CoV-2 Detection
We combine computational, experimental and clinical approaches to develop a clearer view of microbiomes.
Inhalation of legionella bacteria – which thrive in warm water – can cause illness: in a new project, an Eawag-led multidisciplinary research team is investigating how the risks associated with these bacteria can best be managed.