Our research

The de Menezes Lab is focused on microbial processes that underpin ecosystem function. We combine omics and other molecular approaches with environmental monitoring to understand how microbial communities respond to environmental change, primarily in terrestrial ecosystems. We are interested in better understanding how microbial communities respond to land-use change, extreme weather events, and climate change, as well as anthropogenic contaminants, including human and animal waste. We study fundamental processes, such as microbial community assembly and regulation of biogeochemical cycling, to better understand ecological processes that have a direct impact on environmental health. Ultimately, we aim to inform strategies and build tools that help address important environmental challenges, from soil fertility to public health risks.

Microbial interactions and ecosystem function

Our research investigates how microbial community processes influence ecosystem function and, in turn, how these processes are affected by environmental conditions. We study the consequences of environmental gradients on microbial community structure and interactions, leading to changes in microbial function and cascading effects on ecological processes that underpin ecosystem services. To this end, we use molecular and analytical methods, bioinformatics, ecological experimentation and fieldwork. Previous and ongoing projects have investigated how soil fungi-bacteria associations are affected by land use and soil properties, using metatranscriptomics to reveal which microbial groups and genes are involved in organic pollutant breakdown, the impact of invasive earthworms on the soil microbiome, and the relationships between radioactive contamination and forest fires in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.

Microbial regulation of biogeochemical processes

Here we investigate how microbial interactions and processes regulate nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas emissions. We are particularly interested in understanding how plant and microbial volatile organic compounds (VOCs) affect nitrogen transformations and nitrous oxide emissions from soil (project MicroVOCs). This involves fieldwork, microcosm incubations, molecular characterisation of microbial diversity and function and determination of VOC profiles in soil using thermal-desorption gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS). Together with collaborator Prof. Aaron Golden, we are using modelling approaches to investigate whether VOC data can allow better prediction of soil nitrous oxide emissions. Furthermore, through collaborative projects, we also investigate the relationship between grassland plant diversity and soil microbial communities, biogeochemical cycling and greenhouse gas emissions.

One Health and AMR risk mapping

We study antimicrobial resistance and assess the factors that influence its spread using interdisciplinary approaches that combine geospatial mapping and environmental resistome sequencing. This research involves screening public databases for environmental AMR driver datasets, using spatial modelling to identify areas of high AMR risk, and validating risk predictions by environmental resistome sequencing (project PRISMA). The maps are developed with the ultimate aim of providing evidence-based tools to support AMR mitigation. We also used AMR gene enrichment and sequencing to investigate how extracellular DNA from wild animals potentially contribute to environmental AMR reservoirs in natural and seminatural environments in multiple countries in Europe (project FED-AMR, One Health European Joint Programme).