Meet the EPSCoR Researcher-of-the-Week: Dr. Mostafa Elshahed

Cellulosic Bioenergy Research at the Microbial Ecology and Environmental Genomics Laboratory

Dr. Elshahed and his colleagues are focusing their biofuel research in the following areas:

• Discovering the diversity, ecophysiology, and metabolic capabilities o f novel microorganisms

• Study of the bacterial diversity in soil habitats, with special emphasis on the rare members of the community (members of the rare soil biosphere), and utilization of various phylogenetic and statistical approaches to identify, quantify, and describe the observed patterns of bacterial diversity in soil

• Investigating the potential of anaerobic fungi in biofuel research

• Identifying natural bacterial communities in oil and natural gas reservoirs, and exploring new approaches for the use of microorganisms to enhance oil recovery and improve oil quality

To find out more about Dr. Elshahed's biofuel research, view his video here and visit his EPSCoR page at http://www.okepscor.org/dr-mostafa-elshahed. 

Pictured (above): The Microbial Ecology and Environmental Genomics Laboratory