Role of microorganisms in greenhouse gas fluxes from wetlands formed by permafrost degradation in the Arctic Arthur Szylit, PHD STUDENT

Home laboratory: Laboratory of Oceanology and Geosciences, University of the Littoral Opal Coast, France
 

Host laboratory: Environmental Microbial Genomics Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
 

Duration: March 1–May 1, 2025

Global warming at high latitudes is causing the permafrost to thaw. This process is releasing significant amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, mainly in the form of methane. My thesis is examining the role of microorganisms in methane fluxes in Arctic wetlands. This research requires travel to the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), where I will learn to study the metabolic functions of the microorganisms involved in the methane cycle using a metagenomics approach. I will be hosted by Dr KT Konstantinidis. This training is complementary to other skills I have already acquired (metabarcoding) and thus provides a pathway to understanding the functional role of microbial communities in methane fluxes. The results will eventually be disseminated in a scientific publication. They will also strengthen my doctoral work and our group’s international collaborations.