Microbial Engineering Faculty
![Alptekin Aksan](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Al_Aksan_0026.jpg?resize=864%2C576&ssl=1)
Alptekin Aksan
Professor
Mechanical Engineering
aaksan@umn.edu
Biostabilization; bioencapsulation; biotransport; biomechanics
![Brett Barney](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/DSC00516.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Brett Barney
Associate Professor
Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
bbarney@umn.edu
Biofuels; biofertilizers; biosynthetic pathways
![Jannell Bazurto](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_8773-800x400-1.gif?resize=800%2C400&ssl=1)
Jannell Bazurto
Assistant Professor
Plant and Microbial Biology
jbazurto@umn.edu
Regulatory mechanisms; bacterial physiology; metabolic stress; methylobacterium
![Sebastian Behrens](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Sebastian_Behrens_0050.jpg?resize=864%2C576&ssl=1)
Sebastian Behrens
Associate Professor
Civil, Environmental, & Geo-Engineering
sbehrens@umn.edu
Microbial bioremediation; environmental contaminants; resource recovery
![Daniel Bond](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Screen-Shot-2020-08-06-at-4.43.32-PM-e1596751016378.png?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Daniel Bond
Professor
Plant and Microbial Biology
dbond@umn.edu
Physiology and functional genomics of metal-reducing bacteria; microbial interactions with electrodes
![Antony Dean](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/dean2-e1596476908119.jpg?resize=290%2C182&ssl=1)
Antony Dean
Professor
Ecology, Evolution & Behavior
deanx024@umn.edu
Molecular evolution; enzymology; isopropylmalate dehydrogenase (IDH)
![Mark Distefano](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/distefano.jpg?resize=500%2C333&ssl=1)
Mark Distefano
Professor
Chemistry
diste001@umn.edu
Protein prenylation; molecular recognition and catalysis in proteins; protein engineering; bioorganic chemistry
![Mikael Elias](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/mikael_elias_036.jpg?resize=864%2C576&ssl=1)
Mikael Elias
Associate Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, & Biophysics
mhelias@umn.edu
Microbial enzymes and systems; bio-remediation; cellular phosphate uptake mechanism
![Kathryn Fixen](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fixen-32.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Kathryn Fixen
Assistant Professor
Plant and Microbial Biology
kfixen@umn.edu
Redox regulation of metabolism; anoxygenic phototrophs; product formation
![Mike Freeman](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/michael-freeman-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Mike Freeman
Assistant Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, & Biophysics
mffreema@umn.edu
Natural product biosynthesis; microbial genetics; targeted metagenomics; radical-mediated chemistry
![Jeff Gralnick](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/jeff_gralnick_106.jpg?resize=864%2C576&ssl=1)
Jeff Gralnick
Professor
Plant and Microbial Biology
gralnick@umn.edu
Microbial physiology; synthetic biology; geomicrobiology; Shewanella; bioenergy; bioremediation; biocatalysis
![Ben Hackel](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Hackel-Benjamin-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Ben Hackel
Associate Professor
Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
hackel@umn.edu
Protein engineering; molecular diagnostics; targeted therapy; oncology; infectious disease
![Trinity Hamilton](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/DSC_3040.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Trinity Hamilton
Associate Professor
Plant and Microbial Biology
trinityh@umn.edu
Microbial photosynthesis; global biogeochemical cycles; microbial ecosystems, ecology, and evolution
![Will Harcombe](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Will_Harcombe0009.jpg?resize=864%2C576&ssl=1)
Will Harcombe
Associate Professor
Ecology, Evolution & Behavior
harcombe@umn.edu
Cooperation and conflict; eco-evolutionary feedback; microbial communities; microbial interactions; systems biology
![Bo Hu](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Bo_Hu_0018.jpg?resize=864%2C576&ssl=1)
Bo Hu
Professor
Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
bhu@umn.edu
Bioprocessing technologies; biofuels; biomass utilization; industrial fermentation; waste management and treatment
![Wei-Shou Hu](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Hu-Wei-Shou-2018-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Wei-Shou Hu
Professor
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
acre@cems.umn.edu
Cell culture technology; tissue engineering; metabolic engineering; quantitative modeling of biological systems
![Satoshi Ishii](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/DSC_0311-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Satoshi Ishii
Associate Professor
Soil, Water, and Climate
ishi0040@umn.edu
Applied microbiology and biotechnology; nitrogen pollution; genomics; metagenomics; meta transcriptomics; high-throughput sequencing; bioinformatics; bioreactors; mathematical modeling
![Romas Kazlauskas](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Romas_Kazlauskas.jpeg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Romas Kazlauskas
Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, & Biophysics
rjk@umn.edu
Green (sustainable) chemistry; enzyme modeling; enzyme design; enzyme engineering
![Dan Knights](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Dan_Knights_0008.jpg?resize=864%2C576&ssl=1)
Dan Knights
Associate Professor
Computer Science and Engineering
dknights@umn.edu
Model host-microbiome interactions; microbial community patterns that predict and diagnose human diseases; computational microbiology
![Tim LaPara](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/LaPara_IMG6185-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Tim LaPara
Professor
Civil, Environmental & Geo-Engineering
lapar001@umn.edu
Biological wastewater treatment; wastewater and environmental microbiology; microbial ecology and evolution; antibiotic resistance
![Paige Novak](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_5372-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Paige Novak
Professor
Department of Civil, Environmental, & Geo-Engineering
novak010@umn.edu
Biological transformation of hazardous substances; biodegradation; PCB dechlorinators; dehalorespirers; estrogenic compounds; micropollutants; reactive membrane systems
![Daniel J. O’Sullivan](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Daniel_OSulllivan.png?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1)
Daniel J. O’Sullivan
Daniel J. O’Sullivan
Professor
Food Science and Nutrition
dosulliv@umn.edu
![Christine Salomon](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Christine-Salomon-01.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Christine Salomon
Associate Professor
Center for Drug Design
csalomon@umn.edu
Biological control of plant disease; antibiotic resistance; communication networks among bacterial populations
![Cara Santelli](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/DSC_0368.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Cara Santelli
Associate Professor
Earth & Environmental Sciences
santelli@umn.edu
Impact of microbial activity on geological and environmental processes; nutrient biogeochemical cycling; environmental remediation; influence of anthropogenic activity on biogeochemical processes
![Claudia Schmidt-Dannert](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/176A2555.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Claudia Schmidt-Dannert
Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, & Biophysics
Director, BioTechnology Institute
schmi232@umn.edu
Biosynthetic machinery; sustainable synthesis; multi-enzyme biocatalysis; genetically programmable, self-organizing protein-based functional materials
![Janet Schottel](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Janet_Schottel.png?resize=422%2C312&ssl=1)
Janet Schottel
Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
schot002@umn.edu
https://cbs.umn.edu/contacts/janet-l-schottel
mRNA stability, Plant-pathogen interactions, Gene expression
![Burckhard Seelig](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/MG_4981-Edit-Edit.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Burckhard Seelig
Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
seelig@umn.edu
Darwinian molecular evolution; novel protein generation; synthetic biology; origin and evolution of functional proteins; history of the genetic code
![W. Thomas Shier](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Thomas_Schier.png?resize=422%2C223&ssl=1)
W. Thomas Shier
Professor
Medicinal Chemistry
shier001@umn.edu
612-624-9465
![Mike Smanski](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/mike_smanski_036.jpg?resize=864%2C576&ssl=1)
Mike Smanski
Associate Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
smanski@umn.edu
Natural product discovery; genome mining; genetic systems engineering
![Michael Travisano](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/MTravisano.jpg?resize=800%2C400&ssl=1)
Michael Travisano
Professor
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
travisan@umn.edu
Ecological and evolutionary dynamics; evolutionary genetics; microbial ecology and evolution; yeast speciation
![Larry Wackett](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Larry-Wackett.jpg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
Larry Wackett
Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
wacke003@umn.edu
Biodegradation; bioremediation; biosynthesis of natural products; enzymology; applications of enzymes in industrial processes
![Ping Wang](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Ping-Wang-e1596818625343.jpg?resize=200%2C217&ssl=1)
Ping Wang
Professor
Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
ping@umn.edu
Enzyme engineering and nano biocatalysis; bioprocessing and bioreactors; biosensors; biodegradation; biofuels and bioenergy; biomass-based chemicals and materials; smart coatings and nano functional materials; carbon capture and conversion
![Carrie M. Wilmot](https://i0.wp.com/bti.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/MG_7863.jpg?resize=1080%2C657&ssl=1)
Carrie M. Wilmot
Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
wilmo004@umn.edu
Structural enzymology; natural products; metalloenzymes; macromolecular X-ray crystallography; spectroscopic techniques; kinetics; mass spectrometry