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

National Trust NI

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Ulster Farmers’ Union

Botanaeco

Forestry and Land Scotland

Mourne Heritage Trust

CB Dennis Trust

Syngenta

National Trust for Scotland

National Trust

Aberdeen Harbour Board

Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute

Belfast City Council

The Crown Estate

Shetland Amenity Trust

JNCC

SAERI Falklands Limited

SEPA

James Hutton Institute

Geological Survey NI

RSPB NI

Pacific Seafoods Group

Loughs Agency

Ireland Brownfield Network

SAERI

National Biodiversity Data Centre Ireland

Causeway, Coast & Glens Heritage Trust

Marine Scotland

Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR)

BGS

NOAA Fisheries

Northern Ireland Environment Link

Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research

The R&A

Bioversity International

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Aberdeen City Council

Scottish water

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar & Marine Research

Historic Environment Scotland

RSPB Scotland

Environment Agency

Northern Ireland Environment Agency

Arup

Tilhill Forestry

Forest Research Scotland

Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd

Wildbyte Technologies

3DEO

Siskin Asset Management

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS)

Ulster Wildlife

NI Water

DAERA

NFU Scotland