In project 1C of the Biosolids Training Centre we aim to make anaerobic digestion more efficient. Anaerobic digestion is an essential but error-prone, biological wastewater treatment process and we are investigating its microbiome and metabolome to develop biomarkers that can be used for diagnostics and prevention of common problems.

After a tortuous industry career path that took me from Germany to Vietnam and Hong Kong/Shenzhen, I decided to pursue a path into academia and develop new skills and expertise. I studied the degradation of chlorinated legacy pollutants such as dieldrin that contaminate agricultural surface soils since several decades. My PhD experience could be summed up with: “Amplicon sequencing, microbial diversity, chlorinated pollutants, organic matter and how everything connects”.

In 2021 I joined the ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Research, right after finishing my PhD. Here I can build on my graduate experience to develop new skills with aim to have significant impact on improving biosolids reuse in Australia.

More details available on LinkedIn