The cycle of resources on earth rests on the chemical activity of single-celled microorganisms, called microbes. Organized into microbial communities, they carry out the reactions that turn our waste back into basic building blocks. I am particularly interested in the microbial breakdown of pollutants and complex organic molecules, and the goal of my research is to understand where and when microbial populations are most likely to evolve the ability to consume these compounds. To this end, I am looking into the transport of enzymes and substrates across the membrane, the arrival of new genes via horizontal gene transfer and the selection pressures acting in low resource environments.

I am currently a post-doctoral fellow with Victoria Orphan at the California Institute of Technology. Previously, I completed a PhD with Michael Manhart at ETH Zurich and I hold a master in mathematics from the University of Bonn. You can find my CV on this website and my publications on Google Scholar.