Microorganisms interact with their environment as they produce and and consume dissolved compounds that will therefore become depleted or enriched in their surrounding, mainly in the pore water. Analysis of dissolved compounds is therefore a prerequisite for understanding microbial activity in geologic settings. Another major focus of our work in on direct detection of microbial turnover via the use of radioisotopes as those offer unsurpassed sensitivity. As microbial abundance and activity …

The Mineral Separation laboratory is designed for performing chemical cleaning and purification of minerals. The fume hood in the lab is suitable for using hydrofluoric acid, in addition to other more commonly used acids. Four hot-dog rollers that sit within an acid cabinet can be used to continuously roll up to 24 one-liter sample bottles.

This integrated laboratory suite is designed for studying the formation of nature-inspired and synthetic mineral phases, and their interactions with nutrients and contaminants. It is equipped with two anaerobic chamber workstations, small-scale chemostat reactor, Schlenk Line, setup for liquid degassing to remove O2, sample autodiluter for trace element analysis and standard chemical laboratory equipment such as analytical balances, centrifuges, fume hoods, hotplate stirrers, shaking …

The Omics Lab is currently equipped with all facilities to carry out DNA extractions, polymerase chain reactions (PCR) and gel electrophoresis. Current research includes the biodiversity and functions of cryophilic microbiomes with the focus on snow and ice algal communities.

Processes related to the solvents extraction of snow and ice algae or particles are conducted in the Organic Microbial Geochemistry Lab. These processes are done in combination with ultrasonic bath, shaking, and solid phase extraction. Evaporation of organic extracts using nitrogen or argon gas, as well as various intermediate steps such as milling, acidification and filtration are also carried out in this lab. The subsequent analysis is done with the [Shimadzu Total Organic Carbon Analyzer …

General applications in the soil physics lab comprise soil sample preparation, particle size analysis and estimation of soil moisture content.