Katharina earned her PhD in 2019 through a joint program between the University of Vienna and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology at the University of Bremen. Since 2022, she has worked as a Senior Scientist in CeMESS\u2019 Division of Microbial Ecology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Katharina’s research focuses on linking the activity of single microbial cells to large-scale ecosystem processes. Her team uses a variety of methods, ranging from cultivating microbes and studying their physiology in a laboratory setting to measuring biogeochemical processes using stable isotope incubations in the field. The group’s central focus is applying single-cell and molecular techniques to link specific microorganisms in complex communities to their activities in situ<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2024, she was awarded an ERC Synergy Grant to investigate how microbial activity in oxygen-depleted ocean waters influences the global climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the CoE, Katharina leads in WP 4.3, on \u2018Control of Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Soils’. The central goal of this work package is to understand and predict global N2<\/sub>O emissions from agricultural soils. The results may help to minimize agricultural N2<\/sub>O emissions, ultimately leading to the development of targeted approaches to manipulate the soil microbiome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n