Academic and Professional Background

• Background:

  BSc (Hons)

  PhD

• Personal Resume: An Honorary Researcher for the Bio-Protection Research Centre, Dr Mark Osborn's key research interests focus on the function and adaptation of microorganisms in the environment.

  His current research is in the following areas:

  • Biogeochemical cycling and microbial community structure and function in aquatic environments. Current projects focus on nitrate reduction in marine sediments and in the hyporheic zone of rivers and on the microbiology of urban water systems
  • Microbiology of Arctic glacial ecosystems
  • Structure and function of microbial communities in agricultural soil systems. Current projects focus on the molecular detection of fungal pathogens in soils, and on the cycling of arsenic in urban agricultural systems
  • Pollution microbiology (biodegradation and bioremediation).

  All areas of research involve the development and application of molecular approaches to address fundamental questions concerning community biology, adaptation and evolution in environmental microbiology and microbial ecology.

  Research has been funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, European Union, The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, The Environment Agency, Unilever and Syngenta.