Microorganisms are adapted to virtually every ecosystem on Earth, from the human gut to deep‑sea hydrothermal vents, where they play essential roles in nutrient cycling and energy flow. Prokaryotes can thrive across an exceptionally wide range of temperatures, pH, salinity, and oxygen availability, and they are capable of degrading many compounds that are toxic or harmful to other forms of life. Because of these abilities, microorganisms are widely used in industrial processes and represent a key resource for biotechnological and medical applications. Their impact on our daily lives is enormous—from sustaining the biosphere we depend on to improving our quality of life. Understanding microbial diversity is therefore fundamental not only for deciphering how our planet functions but also for developing new industrial and medical innovations.
As a microbial ecologist, I study the diversity and function of microorganisms and the processes they mediate in mostly in marine ecosystems. My research spans multiple biological scales, from genes and individual species to entire communities. I combine modern molecular approaches, such as current -omics technologies, with classical microbiological methods including isolation, cultivation, and characterization of bacterial strains. Nowadays my research focuses on three main research areas: