Facilities

Instruments

Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS), Thermo Scientific Q Exactive
The Q Exactive LC/MS is used for precise measurements of targeted and non-targeted analytes using reverse-phase liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. This instrument is applied to determine the identity and abundance of intracellular and extracellular metabolites in order to monitor bacterial metabolism and contaminant degradation.

Powder X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), Bruker D8 Advance
The XRD is used to monitor interactions of organic substrates and contaminants with expandable clay minerals. Our XRD instrument is equipped with temperature-humidity stage to allow control of both temperature and moisture levels during the run.

Fluorescence Spectrophotometer, Agilent Technologies Cary Eclipse
The fluorescence spectrophotometer is used to monitor levels and/or changes in fluorescing organic molecules.

Incubator Shaker, New Brunswick Scientific
Our lab is equipped with several incubator shakers to maintain different growth conditions for our bacterial work.

The Lab

February 2024: Local news TV, CBS News-Chicago, highlights our new research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: “Secrets in the soil: how earth below us might help fight climate change”.
.
February 2024: New article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Led by PhD student Jiaxing Wang and co-author contribution from undergraduate researcher Rebecca Wilson.
.
February 2024: French magazine Mediapart covers upcoming article to be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: “Des molécules révèlent le secret des sols pour piéger le carbone”.
.
February 2024: Northwestern University News features upcoming article to be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: “Understanding how soil traps carbon”.
.
January 2024: We welcome Dr Benjamin Barrios Cerda as our newest postdoctoral researcher. Dr Cerda will be working on figuring out mecahnisms of catalytic reactions at mineral interfaces. Welcome Benjamin!.
.
December 2023: Just accepted manuscript in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Led by the Orphan Lab at the California Institute of Technology.
.
September 2023: Just accepted manuscript to iScience. Led by the Molitor and Agenent Labs at the University of Tuebingen (Germany).
.
July 2023: Just accepted manuscript to The ISME Journal. Led by the Russell Lab at Drexel University.
.
July 2023: We welcome new postdoc Dr Nasrin Naderi Beni who completed her PhD at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Nasrin will be working on the surface chemistry of plastics degradation. Welcome Nasrin!.
.
July 2023: We welcome new undergraduate researcher Lynna Deng. Lynna will be working on bacterial carbon metabolism of plastics products. Welcome Lynna!.
.
July 2023: We welcome new undergraduate researcher Marcos Sanchez. Marcos will be working on mineral catalysis. Welcome Marcos!.
.
July 2023: We welcome new high-school student intern Rohan Sharma. Rohan will be working on molecular modeling of biopolymer structures. Welcome Rohan!.
.
February 2023: New article published in Nature Chemical Biology. Led by PhD student Rebecca Wilkes.
.
December 2022: We welcome high-school student intern, Tyler Alexander, to the team. Welcome Tyler!.
.
November 2022: We welcome new postdoc Dr Pandeeswari Jeeva to the team. Dr Jeeva will work on new carbon assimilation pathways in environmental bacteria of biotechnological relevance. Welcome Pandeeswari!.
.
November 2022: Professor Aristilde presented at her graduate alma mater, UC-Berkeley, in the CEE department.
.
October 2022: Professor Aristilde visited Dr Jasquelin Pena at UC-Davis and presented at the CEE seminar. .
.
October 2022: New article published in Environmental Science and Technology.
.
July 2022: New article published in Water Research.
.
June 2022: Undergraduate researcher Allison Spring presents her undergraduate honors thesis “Diffusion and Interactions of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons at Water-Nanoplastics Interfaces: A Molecular Modeling Investigation”. Congratulations Allison! .
.
June 2022: We welcome new postdoc Dr Nanqing Zhou who just completed her PhD in Clara Chan’s Lab at the University of Delaware. Nanqing will be learning isotope-assisted metabolomics to study novel metabolic pathways for biotechnology in soil bacteria.
.
June 2022: New article published in Journal of Applied Microbiology.
.
May 2022: Congratulations to undergraduate researcher Allison Spring for being admitted to the prestigious ERASMUS+ program to pursue her M.S. studies in the European Union..
.
March 2022: Prof. Aristilde visits Pablo Nikel Research Group at Nordisk Research Foundation in Copenhagen, Denmark and presents “Multi-Omics Investigation of Carbon Flux Networks in Environmental Bacteria of Biotechnological Relevance“..
.
March 2022: Congratulations to Postdoc Dr Bahareh Hassanpour who is about to start as Assitant Professor in the Department of Plant and Earth Science at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls..
.
January 2022: Prof. Aristilde gives talk on “Multi-Omics Investigation of Carbon Flux Networks in Bacteria with Biotechnological Relevance” to the Lars Angenent Research Group at the University of Tuebingen (Germany)..
.
January 2022: Prof. Aristilde starts her 6-month academic (sabbatical) leave at the University of Tuebingen in Tuebingen, Germany as a Bessel research fellow sponsored by the Alexander Humboldt Foundation..
.