Hello, my name is Alexander and this year I will be starting a QUADRAT studentship at QUB. My project involves studying the methylotrophs from the unusual Movile Cave in Romania. The Movile cave ecosystem has been sealed from the surface for 5.5 million years and is dependent on the products of chemosynthesis not photosynthesis. I was drawn to the project because of its use of synthetic communities and metagenomics, tools I became interested in as an undergraduate however I’m also fascinated by Movile Cave itself at least in part owing to my hobby of caving. However the bounds of this project don’t lie completely within the confines of Movile Cave, methane is a potent greenhouse gas, understanding the organisms that metabolise it may help us reduce its impact on the earth’s climate in the future. After a year out of academia, I can’t wait to get stuck in, just not stuck in Movile Cave.
QUADRAT Sponsors and Partners
SAERI
Shetland Amenity Trust
DAERA
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Geological Survey NI
Arup
Bioversity International
SAERI Falklands Limited
Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research
Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR)
RSPB NI
James Hutton Institute
Aberdeen City Council
Mourne Heritage Trust
Northern Ireland Environment Agency
Forestry and Land Scotland
Ireland Brownfield Network
BGS
Aberdeen Harbour Board
NFU Scotland
Siskin Asset Management
National Trust NI
Scottish water
National Biodiversity Data Centre Ireland
Ulster Farmers’ Union
Loughs Agency
Historic Environment Scotland
CB Dennis Trust
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
The Crown Estate
Forest Research Scotland
Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Syngenta
RSPB Scotland
Ulster Wildlife
Belfast City Council
Environment Agency
Pacific Seafoods Group
JNCC
NOAA Fisheries
Northern Ireland Environment Link
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar & Marine Research
SEPA
Causeway, Coast & Glens Heritage Trust
NI Water
National Trust for Scotland
Wildbyte Technologies
Botanaeco
Tilhill Forestry
National Trust
The R&A
Marine Scotland
Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS)
3DEO
Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd