My interest for environmental microbiology started in Spain.

During my bachelor studies, I realized that, if we take a closer look at nature, a whole new world of tiny creatures reveals itself to us: the world of microbial life. I became fascinated about the idea that microbes exist everywhere, even under extreme conditions like those found in polar regions. Due to my motivation regarding cold zones, I went to an internship in the University of Chile, where I worked with Antarctic yeasts.

Since then, my passion has grown,

not only for the study of these small organisms, but for their role and applicability in cold ecosystems. After gaining hands-on research experience from research institutions such as the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the Institute of Marine Sciences of Barcelona (ICM). I decided to apply for a master’s degree in University of Oulu, Finland, where I could study microbes from the Arctic, while living in the Arctic myself.

After years living in Finland,

I have become used to crossing the Arctic Circle. I got a research assistant position in the Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Unit, where, a year later, turned out to be the place where I started my doctoral research: “Searching for pollutant-recycler microbes in mining wastes: Hidden environmental solutions in cold climates”.

The goal of my PhD is to find bacteria that utilize metal(loid)s as part of their metabolism, with the aim of employing them to recycle raw materials and remove pollutants. I worked from the starting point of collecting the samples, to the laboratory experiments, data analyses (e.g. R and Unix) and scientific writing.

When you really love making art, you just cannot repress it.

Even if you try to hide it, it will come out in one way or another. During my studies, I never stopped painting or dancing. During my PhD, an opportunity opened up for me to participate in an expedition to Svalbard. The main goal of the trip was to obtain microbial samples from polluted sites of the Norwegian archipelago. After the trip, I received the news that the Biodiverse Anthropocenes research program (University of Oulu) decided to fund my creative project: an illustrated book.

Picture made by Annaliza Cainglet.

I am still figuring out what I want to do with my career and personal life. From continuing in academia or not to the place for putting down my roots. I like to nurture myself with inspiration from inside and outside the university and to discover new interests. Every piece of knowledge will shape the way you think of life and, consequently, make you a better professional.

As exciting and scary as it is,

Picture made by Oanh Buin.

Academic Education

Want to know more about my skills? I coded this interactive diagram for you.

2021-Present

PhD researcher

My PhD is part of the Doctoral Degree Programme in Process and Environmental Engineering in the Water Resources and Environmental Engineering faculty of the University of Oulu in Finland.

Master of Science degree in Ecology and Population Genetics

2018-2020

I majored in Genetics with 126 ECTS. I also enrolled myself in subjects, such as Entrepreneurship for Sustainability, Recycling of Bioproducts or Introduction to Data Visualization.

Master of Science degree in Advanced Microbiology

2016-2017

Microbial Biotechnology and Environmental Microbiology major (60 ECTS) at the University of Barcelona in Spain.

I did my bachelor studies (240 ECTS) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. The knowledge I gained from the courses reflected the diversity and excellence in research by the lecturers. In the last year of studies, I decided to specialize in environmental microbiology. Thus, I enrolled myself in courses like Microbial Genomics, Soil Science and Bioreactors among others.

Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology

2012-2016

Internships and Research Visits

  • 2023: Research visit to the University of Hannover to work in one of my PhD experiments. Under the supervision of Prof. Marcus Horn.

  • 2022: Arctic Sampling Expedition in Longyearbyen located in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

  • 2019: Field assistant in Bioremediation project in Kittilä, in Finnish Lapland.

  • 2016-2017: Laboratory assistant in the Marine Science Institute (ICM).

  • 2016: Laboratory assistant in the Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research.

  • 2015: I worked with Antarctic Yeasts at the Faculty of Science in the University of Chile, Santiago supervised by Prof. Marcelo Baeza.

Map made with Arcgis Sources: Esri, TomTom, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community. Edited in Adobe Illustrator, CSS and HTML code.