Thesis Sandra GALEA OUTON (2021 - 2024)

Ecological engineering and maintenance of methane oxidation in photogranules under selection pressure

We suggest exploring ecosystem functioning of the microbiome in methanotrophic photogranules. Methane removal in photogranules is a potentially fragile ecosystem function as it competes with other heterotrophic processes for oxygen. Finding ways to ecologically engineer a stable methanotrophic community is a prerequisite for a biotechnological application, in which the potent greenhouse gas methane needs to be removed from a waste stream.

The PhD student will acquire measurements of photogranule activity as a function of photogranule phenotype, light exposure and competitive pressure resulting from coalescence with allochthonous microbial communities. The data will enable the PhD student to suggest levers that enable the assembly and maintenance of a photogranulated, methanotrophic industrial microbiome removing the greenhouse gas methane from methane-rich effluents. A novel mathematical model bridging the scale of individual photogranules and the bioreactor will be calibrated using the data. An international network of existing collaborations frames this thesis, which will provide opportunities for the PhD candidate.

Contact - Coordination:

  • Sandra GALEA OUTON (Doctoral Candidate)
  • Kim MILFERSTEDT (Doctoral Adviser, LBE, Département MICA) 
  • Jérôme HAMELIN (Doctoral Adviser, LBE, Département MICA)

Funding:

  • 50% INRAE
  • 50% région Occitanie