People
Lab members
NICOLE R. POSTH – PI
Research Interests:
Biogeochemical cycling, geomicrobiology, (micro)plastics in the environment, cell-surface interactions, diagenetic processes, biogenic/abiogenic minerals, microbial physiology, historical microbiology proxies, isotope biogeochemistry
Teaching:
Introduction to Geomicrobiology (UCPH, MSc in Geology-Geoscience)
Marine Geoscience (MSc-level UCPH, Geology/Geography)
Marine Geology: Microplastic Fate, High-Resolution Seismics and Archaeology (BSc-level Geology-Geosciences)
Education and Research Experience:
2024 Associate Professor, Promotion Programme, IGN-University of Copenhagen, UCPH Forward Fellow
2022 Associate Professor, IGN-University of Copenhagen/Carlsberg Semper Ardens Fellow, VILLUM Young Investigator
2017 Assistant Professor, tenure-tracked/VILLUM Young Investigator – IGN-University of Copenhagen
2017 Assistant Professor/VILLUM Young Investigator – NordCEE-Biology-SDU
2016 Research funding advisor – SDU, Support Office, Science
2015 Maternity leave
2013 Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Fellow (IEF) – NordCEE-Biology-SDU
2011 DFG Postdoctoral Fellow, NordCEE-Dept of Biology-University of Southern Denmark (SDU)
2009 Post-doctorate researcher, Center for Applied Geosciences, Tübingen, Germany
2010 Maternity leave
2009 Doctorate, Dr. rer. nat., Geomicrobiology, Center for Applied Geosciences (ZAG), University of Tübingen, Germany
2004 MSc, Applied Environmental Geosciences, Helmholtz Center for Health & the Environment/ZAG Tübingen
2001 Fulbright Teaching Scholar Austrian Fulbright Commission, Linz
2000 BSc, Tufts University,Massachusetts, USA
JOSEPHINE KOOIJ – Postdoc
Research interests:
Furthering our understanding of human impact on biogeochemical cycles. I am particularly interested in the use of advanced analytical techniques to characterize materials and surfaces, including plastic surfaces with adhered minerals.
Current Project: Minerals in the plastisphere and their influence on biological interactions and plastic degradation
Education and Research Experience:
2025 PhD in phosphorus speciation of sewage sludge biochars, University of Copenhagen
2021 MSc Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University and Research
2019 Master of Chemistry with Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry, University of Edinburgh
ANGELA M. SANCHEZ-SALAZAR – Postdoc
Research interests:
Excited about molecular microbial ecology, particularly intrigued by deciphering the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes carried by plasmids in the environment thought HGT.
Current project: Importance of extracellular DNA for evolution: a missing link? (EGC)
Education and Research Experience:
2024 PhD, University of the Frontier (Chile)/University of Copenhagen (Denmark), Natural Resources Sciences
2020 MSc, University of the Frontier, Natural Resources Sciences
2017 MSc, Austral University of Chile, Microbiology
2012 The University of Atlántico (Colombia), Biology
Angela M. Sanchez-Salazar CV as PDF
EMMA RYSGAARD HAXEN – PhD Candidate (Dual PhD degree Lund University/UCPH)
Research interests:
The role of oxygen in animal development, geochemical redox proxies, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, sedimentology, biogeochemistry
Current Project: Tracing cellular access to oxygen and carbon over time, size, and space (Hammarlund Lab/Posth Lab)
Education and Research Experience:
2021 PhD student, TCR, Lund University
2018 Research assistant, IGN, University of Copenhagen
2017 Teaching assistant, IGN, University of Copenhagen
2017 MSc Geology-Geoscience, IGN, University of Copenhagen
2014 BSc Geology-Geoscience, IGN, University of Copenhagen
Emma Rysgaard Haxen CV as PDF
DEBBY SCHMIDT – PhD Candidate
Research interests:
Impacts of environmental pollutants on biogeochemical cycling and microbial communities, interactions at the microbe-mineral interface, trace metal biogeochemistry, bioleaching and bioremediation techniques
Current Project: Investigating the role of minerals in the plastisphere and the impact of marine plastic on biomineralization processes (start Oct 2023)
Education and Research Experience:
2023 PhD candidate, IGN, University of Copenhagen
2022 MSc in Geoscience, Mineralogy, University of Potsdam
2017 additional studies in Life Sciences, (BSc level) University of Potsdam
2017 BSc Geoscience, University of Potsdam, Germany
ANITA FIORIN – PhD Candidate
Research interests:
Marine fungi and their biotechnological applications, biodegradation and bioremediation, mechanisms of interaction of fungi with plastics, uptake and transport of carbon within the fungal hypha, mediation of marine fungi in the storage and sequestration of fragmented plastics and their degradation products in the sediment and sediment rhizosphere, role of marine fungi in marine carbon pump in the perspective of climate change
Current project: The role of marine fungi in coastal carbon cycling and storage: mechanisms and implications for plastic in the estuarine ecosystem
Education and Research Experience:
2024 PhD candidate Geomicrobiology, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2023 Research fellowship, Mycotheca Universitatis Taurinensis (MUT), University of Turin, Italy
2023 MSc Plant Biotechnology, University of Turin, Italy
2019 BSc Biology, Eastern Piedmont University, Italy
MSc students
Project title: Aquatic Fungal Responses: tolerance to abiotic stressors and plastic degradation potential of Pichia fermentans and Penicillium piscarium
Project title: Metal profiles of Danish coastal sediment
POSTH LAB PAST MEMBERS
METTE MÜLLER JENSEN – Laboratory technician
Collaborators
Jamileh Javidpour – Biology-Ecology, SDU Climate Cluster, University of Southern Denmark
Daniel Shilla – Biogeochemistry, University of Dar es Salaam
Emma Hammarlund – Molecular Evolution/Translational Cancer Research, Lund University
Karina Krarup Sand– Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen
Liselotte Jauffred– Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
Ana Prohaska– Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen
Thomas R. Neu – Dept of River Ecology, UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Elena Gorokhova – ACES, Stockholm University
Jakob Strand – Institute for Bioscience, Aarhus University
Jacek Fiutowski – Mads Clausen Institute, SDU NanoSYD
Thorbjørn Joest Andersen – Physical Geography, IGN-University of Copenhagen (UCPH)
Mikkel Fruergaard – Physical Geography, IGN-UCPH
Marianne Nylandsted Larsen – Human Geography, IGN-UCPH
Nynke Keulen– Petrology & Economic Geology, SEM lab (GEUS)
Hai Nhu Doan & Lam Nguyen Ngoc – Dept of Marine Plankton, Institute of Oceanography, Vietnam Academy of Science & Technology