SOIL MICROBIAL ECOLOGY GROUP

Working team - Lur Epelde

Dr. Lur Epelde is a researcher at the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources, NEIKER-Tecnalia and a member of its Soil Microbial Ecology Group. She has: (i) a Bachelor of Science in Biology (University of the Basque Country, 2004), (ii) a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Microbiology (University of the Basque Country, 2007), and (iii) a PhD in Biology (University of the Basque Country, 2009).

Her main research interests are: (i) bioremediation/phytoremediation technologies and (ii) the interaction between plants and their rhizosphere microbial communities. She has ample experience on the utilization of microbial indicators of soil health and quality (enzyme activities, basal and substrate-induced respiration, community-level physiological profiles, real-time PCR, DNA microarrays, PCR-DGGE, stability essays, etc.) to assess the efficiency of phytoremediation processes. She also has expertise on metal phytoextraction using hyperaccumulating plants and high biomass crop plants, as well as on metal phytostabilization using tolerant plants.