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
Tilhill Forestry
Siskin Asset Management
NFU Scotland
Belfast City Council
Northern Ireland Environment Link
Mourne Heritage Trust
Aberdeen City Council
RSPB NI
Scottish water
Environment Agency
SEPA
Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research
National Trust for Scotland
Loughs Agency
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar & Marine Research
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Geological Survey NI
Forest Research Scotland
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JNCC
Forestry and Land Scotland
CB Dennis Trust
SAERI Falklands Limited
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
National Biodiversity Data Centre Ireland
Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute
Historic Environment Scotland
Shetland Amenity Trust
Causeway, Coast & Glens Heritage Trust
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Arup
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Aberdeen Harbour Board
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Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR)
James Hutton Institute
Syngenta
Ulster Wildlife
Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Ulster Farmers’ Union
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Wildbyte Technologies
Bioversity International
Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd
Ireland Brownfield Network
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