2024 HDR Scholarship - The role of microbes in carbonate mineralization under different substrate conditions

This PhD scholarship focuses on unpinning the role of microbes in carbonate mineralization under different substrate conditions. Microbial activities have been demonstrated to play a crucial role in the formation of minerals since the advent of life on Earth. Bacterial biomineralization plays a critical role in biogeochemical cycling and has important environmental applications especially in sustainable construction materials. This project aims to significantly advance current perceptions and knowledge by developing new methods for elemental tracking of Ca under biotic and abiotic environments in a range of substrates and microbial metabolic pathways using stable isotopes. This is a 3-year PhD project available at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, under the supervision of Dr. Navdeep K Dhami in collaboration with Prof. Allan Pring (University of Adelaide), Dr Carlos Rodriguez (University of Granada, Spain) and Prof. Abhijit Mukherjee (Curtin University).